The Vice President of the United States is about to step out of the West Wing and on to the set of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
On Thursday, the White House announced that Biden will head to New York on Friday morning where he will participate in a taping of Law & Order.
The show will tackle the issue of rape kit backlogs in many cities, as well as an effort to end violence against women—an issue that is close to Biden, as he authored The Violence Against Women Act in 1994 and has been known for his activism against domestic violence and sexual assault.
Rape kits often contain DNA evidence from the victim’s attacker and are useful to identifying rapists. However, many of them have been backlogged in police departments across the country.
One of the show’s stars, Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson, has been an outspoken advocate of ending sexual violence against women. Hargitay is the founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, which empowers survivors of sexual violence. In May, she presented Biden with an award for his efforts toward ending domestic violence.
Before receiving the award, Biden made a surprise appearance at the Oscars , and spoke out against sexual assault on college campuses. There, he encouraged audience members to “take the pledge” to “change the culture” that makes college campus assaults so prevalent. Biden also wrote an open letter to the Stanford sexual assault survivor early last month.
Biden’s debut on Law & Order won’t be his first on the small-screen— he also appeared on NBC’s Parks and Recreation twice. And according to People, Biden has also been seen on Shark Tank, and will be in the upcoming documentary The Nominee.
