She plays Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which is the longest running US live action series on television.

And revealed that people used to call her the 'accidental activist' after she founded her foundation to help victims of domestic violence five years after landing the role as Olivia, she said in her cover story for .

The 56-year-old actress said: 'I didn't take this job on SVU to do this work.

But I think I was meant to do this.''

Incredible: Mariska Hargitay revealed that people used to call her the 'accidental activist' after she founded her foundation to help victims of domestic violence five years after landing the role as Olivia, she said in her cover story for People magazine 

The star said she realized how powerful it was to listen, something her character did on the show, and how it made a difference to real life survivors.

The mother of three, who trained as a rape crisis counselor, Mariska founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004; It is a nonprofit organization that supports survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

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