Olivia Benson

Sergeant Olivia "Liv" Benson is one of the protagonists of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She is portrayal by Mariska Hargitay.

Early History
She was the product of the rape of her mother, Serena by a food salesman, who later committed suicide. At the time of the rape, Serena had been working in the cafeteria of Columbia University. Olivia's mother, Serena, was an alcoholic who emotionally abused Olivia. Olivia Benson has a half-brother, Simon Marsden, who was also accused of series of rape of women. She didn't find out about her brother until they were both adults after she illegally ran her DNA through a kinship analysis. Serena died from injuries sustained in a fall when she was drunk, which left Olivia deeply saddened..

Personality
Olivia is deeply sympathetic with victims of sex crimes and as a result; she is often quick to believe victim's stories. Her former partner Elliot Stabler was often more skeptical of victim's accounts, which often brings the two partners into conflict. Olivia's ability to sympathize with victims is a tremendous asset, but there are times when it comes back to haunt her,. She went undercover in a women's prison to find a rapist and was almost raped herself until Detective Odafin Tutuola, also undercover there as a guard of the facility, managed to save her just moments before the man, who was a fellow guard, could violate her. Afterwards, Olivia developed a severe case of PTSD, but has been receiving counseling for the assault and has been seen dealing with it more constructively. While speaking to a victim of a separate rape, the victim asked her if she was better having dealt with her rapist, and Olivia told her that she was better, but that she wouldn't ever forget what happened. When she was captured by another rapist she was kidnapped tortured and almost raped again. This event brought back her PTSD and goes to thearpy to deal with it. She later identifies with a woman named Sarah Walsh who, like her, was sexually assaulted twice and helps both her and herself in dealing with these incidents.

While a dedicated officer, Olivia is more likely to go to bat for women she deals with during cases than men, and has shown skepticism during cases where women are the offenders and men are the victim, or allows her sympathy of the victim to cloud her judgement and make her commit actions without thinking. Such as in 'Justice denied' where she interrogated a man until he confessed to a crime which he was later found to be innocent of and sending him to prison for life, which could have been avoided if she was thinking clearly enough to check on the evidence.