Wednesday night's episode of "Law & Order: SVU" focused on the prominence of date rape and underage drinking on college campuses, an issue that is finding its way to the forefront of the non−collegiate public consciousness. TV and film actor Christopher Meloni, who portrays the charismatic Detective Elliot Stabler, and Executive Producer Neal Baer took part in a roundtable phone interview to discuss the significance of the episode and its subject matter.
Question: Why is this episode just now being made?
Christopher Meloni: What we usually do, we just try to touch on subjects that are relevant to what is happening, and there have been many cases of sexual assaults in all areas of the country.
Q: Do you think the show makes a difference in the awareness of violence, or is it possible that people are become desensitized to violence through shows like "SVU"?
CM: I've had survivors of sexual assault, both male and female, come up to me… They thank us for what we do, and what we do is confront issues that people are all too quick to sweep under the rug or just not confront because it's very uncomfortable and very unpleasant.
Q: In season two episode "Consent," the female rape victim does not find "justice," other than the expulsion [from college] of the men involved. How true to life would you say this is, and what does it say to female college students?
CM: Unfortunately, it happens an awful lot and, I mean, it is always very difficult if it's a he−said she−said situation. It is very difficult to convict with that as a basis. I have heard prosecutors say, "If there's alcohol involved with a rape victim they find it very difficult to proceed simply because, you know, there's going to be doubt in the jury's mind."
Q: So the presence of alcohol blurs the legal lines.
CM: It is considered, if people were drinking and mistakes were made, there is a sense of remorse on the victim's part. For our show, when it ends on a sour note … justice was not quite served. I think that unfortunately it is a very real aspect of what happens in our justice system.
Q: How do you hope the episode will influence the viewers, and is there a central message that the episode is trying to convey?
Neal Baer: Sure, there is. I hope that it really brings the issue to the forefront that we need to talk about alcohol abuse on college campuses and its relationship to date rape. This is a problem that is not talked about and we want that problem to be discussed.
Q: In the show, the campus security administration is portrayed as ineffective in providing justice for sexual assault cases. Do you think turning to the legal system is a viable and necessary alternative?
NB: I think that we have to discuss this on campus, you know, to understand why and if cases ... are not being reported. I have heard anecdotally that colleges downplay these cases by taking them through their disciplinary committees as opposed to getting the outside police involved.
Q: Why has it taken 12 seasons and more than 250 episodes to come to this issue, which is one of the most common forms of sexual assault?
NB: I think it is because I did not really hear about it until maybe about a year ago. I do think it is very interesting that it took us 12 years to do this show, which is out there and I think it is because even though it is out there it has not gotten enough traction. Maybe it is also because my son is in college now so my views and my direction have turned to that as well.
Q: Why do you think college students are so unlikely to report being raped?
NB: Peer pressure and the fact that alcohol is often part of it — it is fuzzy, murky, no one can remember for sure what happened, you know, people are impaired. They do not know if they consented or not, so alcohol mixed in makes things very complicated. Then I think there is a lot of peer pressure as well that someone does not want to say this because they may be seen as "narc−ing" on a friend. There's a lot of pressure that accompanies being in college, and when it comes to your body, this is where I think you all have to take the reins and say that it's not okay and change the norms, and say, "Peer pressure be damned."
