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.

Five years later, the actress learned of the staggering number of untested rape kits in the US and made her nonprofit’s End The Backlog initiative a top priority,

She said of the amount of untested rape kits: ‘I couldn’t believe that this could happen.

This is a crystal clear microcosm of what is wrong with our society.’

Strength: 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;’ seen with Peter Scanavino and Kelli Giddish

The TV star, who is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay, teamed up with rape activist and Michigan prosecutor Kym Worthy to tackle the project.

Mariska said: ‘I met Kym and said, “Listen to me, I’m your soldier. You tell me what you need. How can we do this?” And we just joined forces.

Since taking on the task, Mariska’s organization has identified more than 225,000 untested rape kits at police offices, crime labs or storage facilities in the US.

They also established legislation in 41 states supporting rape kit reform and she has testified in front of Congress twice about the backlog, the star told the outlet.

She said: ‘Eradicating the rape kit backlog is no longer if, it’s when now. I know that.’

In addition, Congress approved $131 million for Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

Her 2018 Emmy winning documentary on HBO I Am Evidence featured four women across the US getting their kits tested after being ignored for years.

Mariska said: ‘That’s all these women need is to be believed. They need to respected and seen and heard, and have somebody go, “I’m so sorry.” And that person needs to be held accountable.’

Amazing: The TV star, who is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay, teamed up with rape activist and Michigan prosecutor Kym Worthy to tackle the project; pictured with her husband peter Hermann at the 35th Annual Couples Choice Gala on Monday

Law & Order: SVU got a three-year renewal expanding its historic run to 24 seasons.

The show, created by Dick Wolf, became the longest-running primetime live-action series in television history when it kicked-off its current 21st season.

The historic renewal is part of a five-year deal between NBC’s parent, Universal Television, and Wolf Entertainment, which also includes three-year pickups of Wolf’s Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D and Chicago Med.

‘I’m gratified and excited that Universal will remain our home for five more years,’ Wolf said in a statement as reported by .

In character: Law & Order: SVU got a three-year renewal expanding its historic run to 24 seasons; Mariska pictured with Kelli Giddish on set filming n 2018

‘This new term deal complements our recently concluded agreement to make Peacock one of the primary destinations for both the L&O and Chicago brands, as well as our extraordinary three-year NBC broadcast pickups on all four current series.’

The acclaimed producer added, ‘We are now supercharged to expand our business on new platforms, both domestically and internationally, while continuing to produce our current and future series for broadcasting and streaming networks.’

Law & Order: SVU premiered back in September 1999 as the second series in Wolf’s mega-successful Law & Order franchise.

The series follows Lieutenant Benson, who, along with Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T), Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Dominick Carisi, Jr.

(Peter Scanavino) as they investigate sexually-related crimes in New York City.

Throughout her two-decade run, Mariska has earned eight Emmy Award nominations for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, winning her first Emmy in 2006.

Focused: The show, created by Dick Wolf, became the longest-running primetime live-action series in television history when it kicked-off its current 21st season; pictured with co-star Ice T on an episode of the show

Strike a pose: The series follows Lieutenant Benson, who, along with Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T), Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Dominick Carisi, Jr. (Peter Scanavino) as they investigate sexually-related crimes in New York City; pictured (L-R) Mariska, Peter Scanavino, Dick Wolf, Kelli Giddish, Ice-T, and Philip Winchester