Sweet/Vicious Takes On Sexual Assault Like TV Never Has Before

Exclusive! Check out a sneak peek from tonight's episode of the new MTV series

Sexual assault may not be easy to deal with on TV, and it may not be the most appealing topic, but it is an important one. MTV's Sweet/Vicious is facing it head on, with women suiting up and taking down the rapists on their college campus. While the image of a couple of unassuming chicks beating guys up is one that's likely to get your attention, that's really only the surface of the show.

Beyond that, and even beyond the beautiful friendship at its core, Sweet/Vicious is about the people dealing with sexual assault, the issues they face in getting something done about it, and the fact that life has to go on even after they've suffered a horrible trauma.

The exclusive clip above gives a taste of that, with Ophelia (Taylor Dearden) encountering a frustrated young woman at the police station who can't seem to find anyone who can do anything about the fact that she was raped.

Jules (Eliza Bennett) has found something to do about it for other girls on her campus, but she's also still dealing with her own assault.

"Jules is incredibly broken and vulnerable, but oh my god is she strong and feisty," Bennett tells E! News. "She's a fighter and a survivor."

Bennett says the show will deal with what exactly happened to Jules, and how hard it is to move past it. "We look at what a relationship after you've been sexually assaulted looks like, and that's some of my favorite stuff in the show," she tells us.

Given the recent wave of coverage of sexual assaults on college campuses, including the Netflix documentary The Hunting Ground, Sweet/Vicious feels incredibly timely, but Bennett says it's a show that should've always felt relevant. 

"We're talking about injustices and sexual assaults on campus. It's relevant now, but it has been happening since the beginning of time, and we're only just catching up to it," she says. "It breaks my heart when you think how many people have been through what Jules has been through, and so yes it feels like it should have been made forever ago, but it's being made and I'm so proud to be doing a show that is talking about something that has been taboo forever. I hope people respond to it, and I hope people feel less alone."

Sweet/Vicious airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on MTV.