Mariska Hargitay on ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Premiere That Seemed to Echo the Cornell Case

The episode is meant to highlight New York's voluntary intoxication loophole, which says that overly intoxicated people can still give consent if they were not forced to drink. Mariska Hargitay talks to THR about the ‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 28 premiere that seemed to echo the Cornell University case. The season premiere of Law and Order: SVU on Oct. 9 seemed eerily prescient given the recent headlines coming out of Cornell University. However, as Mariska Hargitay notes, the story was written far ahead of the current events, and instead is meant to speak to the prevalence of rape victims struggling to find justice. “This was written and shot in July, well before the Cornell story hit national headlines in September,” Hargitay shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

“That said, it does speak to how common these stories are. Every 68 seconds someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. All too often these assaults are perpetrated on people who are intoxicated. So few of these survivors get the justice they seek due to the system breaking down, especially when they need it the most.” In the episode, titled “Volition,” a young woman named Emily winds up in the hospital after ending up on the subway late at night, disoriented and pleading for help. Once at the hospital, Emily tells Capt. Olivia