The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star talked about the strength of survivors during Variety‘s Power of Women event.
Mariska Hargitay shared some thoughts about Harvey Weinstein’s recently overturned rape conviction during Variety‘s Power of Women event Thursday in New York City.
While being honored for her work supporting sexual assault survivors, the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star gave a powerful speech about challenging broken systems, no matter how hard the fight.
“I want to talk today about reversing convictions,” Hargitay began, first talking about her commitment to protecting and uplifting survivors.
“It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter, that what happened to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors more compassionately, more holistically, with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of what healing means,” she said.
Hargitay the addressed Weinstein’s New York rape conviction and the frustrating “reason it was overturned.”
“Too many women’s voices. Too many women were allowed to speak,” she said, referring to how judges determined testimony from additional Weinstein accusers unfairly biased the initial trial.
Hargitay said she remembered hearing journalists on the New York Times’ “The Daily” podcast say “how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify.”
“Risky to let women speak?” she said she asked herself. “You’re damn right it is. Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment.”
The star of the NBC crime series, now in its 25th season, later called backlash to the #MeToo movement and empowerment of survivors “evidence of how powerful those voices were, those voices are.”
Watch Hargitay’s full speech below. Her comments about Weinstein happen around the 17:10 mark.
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