Law & Order: Special Victims UnitstarMariska Hargitayis opening up about a very personal story of sexual violence.
It wasnt sexual at all.
It was dominance and control.
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Overpowering control, she wrote.
He was a friend.
I tried all the ways I knew to get out of it.
He grabbed me by the arms and held me down.
I checked out of my body.
It never happened.Now I honor that part: I did what I had to do to survive.
She revealed she even told her husband, Peter Hermann, it wasnt rape because she knew the assailant.
They were the first ones to call it what it was.
They were gentle and kind and careful, but their naming it was important.
Then I had my own realization.
She says her work through the foundation helped her to come to terms with her own healing.
This is a painful part of my story, she writes.
The experience was horrible.
No single part of anyones story defines them.
