ELLA-MAE O’SULLIVAN & MARIANA ABREU
On Thursday the world woke up to the wonderful news that the FBI have finally arrested Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s partner in crime and supposed girlfriend. This comes a year after Epstein was charged with sexually exploiting and abusing hundreds of girls, and only a month after Netflix released their documentary miniseries Jeffrey Epstein: filthy rich, bringing renewed attention to the scandal now forgotten by the media. Yet, while Maxwell’s arrest calls for celebration, we must not be quick to forget those of Epstein’s associates who are still roaming free and thus leaving their potential victims as the ones imprisoned.
You may know Jeffrey Epstein as America’s most notorious convicted sex-offender, who was found hanging in his jail cell on August 10th 2019, before his trial. Previously, on July 6th 2019, Epstein was charged in a federal indictment, facing accusations of sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiring involving minors as young as fourteen. Previous to being charged with sexual abuse and minors prostitution, Epstein was an American millionaire, financier and socialite who, after befriending all the right people in all the right places, managed to hover above the law from the heights of his castle, or rather, Palm Beach mansion, for over twenty years.
For years on end, along with Maxwell, Epstein orchestrated the traffic and sexual exploitation of young girls, moving them in between his residences, most of the horrors took place on his Palm Beach mansion, his private island on the Virgin Islands, and his Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. According to victim testimonies, Jeffrey and Maxwell would lure in young vulnerable girls, presenting themselves as philanthropists and often promising them great sums of money, an education, or a future, then forcing them to perform sexual acts.
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich
Ever since Epstein’s alleged suicide in late 2019, the dust seems to have settled around the sex trafficking scandal, at least when it comes to media attention.
It was among the coronavirus crisis, in May 2020, that Netflix released their newest mini series: Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. The documentary takes a deep dive into the sexual crimes committed by convicted pedophile and ex financier Jeffrey Epstein, bringing the survivors of his exploits to the forefront to expose a scheme that reaches far beyond one man and his disturbing mind. Through interviews with law enforcement, key trial representatives and the few that saw inside Epstein’s world, the documentary engages with a variety of perspectives so that no stone is left unturned. However, despite all of these additional insights, it’s the victim’s testimonies that remain centre stage throughout the series’ entirety, ensuring that the viewer can never stray from what’s really important so that their voices may never again be silenced.
There is no doubt that the contents of this documentary series can be labelled as disturbing from start to finish, but when an entire narrative provokes shock at every turn, sometimes the key sources of this can all blend into one. Of course the testimonies, allegations and criminal acts themselves reach a level beyond comprehension, but one further aspect highlighted in the series which becomes even more prevalent in light of Maxwell’s arrest, is the manipulation of young girls to not only perform sexual acts for Epstein, but to recruit others to do the same.
The Pyramidal Scheme of Abuse
The documentary details that Epstein, after sexually assaulting the girls under the guise of a ‘massage’, would tell them that should they bring their friends along next time, he would pay them into the hundreds, in turn beginning the seemingly endless chain of abuse. In the first episode, one of Epstein’s victims, Haley Robson, details how, after taking up this offer, she recruited up to 24 underage girls in the year that she ‘worked’ for Epstein. That is 24 girls turned into victims; and if each of those young girls recruited a further 24, who then went on and did the same, it is difficult to even comprehend how many may have been affected - and Robson was not the only one. Nearly every one of Epstein’s victims featured in the documentary claims that it was a friend who told them about him, told them a way to make really easy money, told them that they had to meet this ‘amazing man.’
People watching the documentary may be quick to judge, as we often are, asking themselves how anyone could possibly subject their friends to such trauma, especially when they have experienced that trauma first hand. Of course we wouldn't do the same, we would know better. Or would we? To cast any blame on these young girls would be to assume that they had any control in the situation when it is clear that they were the ones being controlled. An offer of $200 to give a seemingly normal massage may be tempting in itself, so consider adding on the fact that these were girls as young as 14, girls who were vulnerable to the world and innocent to ulterior motivations.
Often stemming from backgrounds of trauma and abuse themselves, this may have been viewed as an opportunity, a chance of escape, but when the abuse from Epstein began, that escape route shifted. In an interview with Vice, Camille Cooper, Vice President of public policy at Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, stated that for these girls, when in the position of enduring abuse, recruiting is seen as this new escape when in actuality, it only makes the situation worse;
“Their brain only wants the abuse to end, and they reach for the recruitment as a way to get the abuse to stop.”
These girls were not seeking out others in order to be malicious or cruel. They weren’t morally aligned with Epstein or advocating his crimes. They were vulnerable young girls being exposed to and exploited by people who used power to groom them into silent submission. So instead of condemning them for their roles in a system of cyclical abuse far beyond their control, we should praise them for their roles in bringing that system to an end. They didn’t have to speak out. They could have denied any part in it, which if they had done, as shown in the documentary, may have saved them from a lot of grief and judgement from those sitting on the outside looking in. But had they done so, had they tried to hide for fear of shame, the true extent of Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes would never have surfaced, and perhaps she would not be facing up to them today; which seems to be the case for so many of the others involved.
Sisterhood: A way to Escape the Cycle
The fact that Epstein relied solely on his victims to perpetuate this toxic cycle of abuse does raise another vital question when it comes to feminism and the fight towards equality and the end of abuse. If anything, it is symptomatic of how damaged sorority and sense of community are among women nowadays.
From an early age, girls are pitted against each other, taught that they are competitors seeking male approval and putting each other down, and Epstein was well aware of that. Not only was he a sociopath capable of preying and detecting vulnerability and trauma, he also knew that women were raised on sexist standards, groomed to please and interiorise pain and abuse, rather than speak out on it.
Women subjecting each other to abuse and violence is a tale as old as time, and if Epstein’s horrible deeds have taught us anything it is that women need to be there for each other, support each other, and protect each other from predators.
A Broken Justice System
While we have made it perfectly clear that we live in a society with a soft spot for victim-blaming, there is an even darker and horrifying truth behind the Epstein affair. The truth is the world was well aware Epstein was a convicted pedophile from as early as 2006. On June 30th, 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. By then, it was well documented that the minor in question was only one in a few hundreds, and that the charges of ‘prostitution’ were extremely inaccurate and unfaithful to the actual sexual abuse and traffic going on behind the scenes.
Not only that, it is clear that the settlement that prevented Epstein from going to trial in 2008 is a clear case of collusion and corruption, as was determined by federal prosecutors in 2019. Overseen by Alexander Acosta, then the United States attorney in Miami and President Trump’s labor secretary from 2017-2019, this deal got Epstein an eighteen months conviction, when legally he should have gotten no less than fifteen years. It gets worse: the millionaire was able to leave prison twelve hours a day, six days a week, in order to “work”, broke these conditions several times, and was released after thirteen months. Have you lost faith in the justice system yet?
Why Guilt and Shame need to Switch Sides
So why wait so long to speak out? This is a question most people still ask when victims denounce their abusers years later.
Here’s why: despite Epstein’s conviction, his pleading guilty, and the overwhelming amount of proof pointing to the fact that he was a dangerous criminal, people felt no guilt, no shame, and had no problem whatsoever in being seen with him, attending his events, being photographed beside him. And by people, we don’t mean the general population, but rather influential, powerful, highly placed people. Indeed, although the documentary may have his name on it, Jeffrey Epstein is clearly not the only ‘famous face’ that you’ll see throughout its four episodes. In fact, should the context be different, he may have one of the least recognisable ones. From Donald Trump and Bill Clinton to Woody Allen and Prince Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell were not in any shortage of friends in high places, not only proven by witness’ word, but by clear photographic evidence. Such attitudes are sending a clear message to all victims, telling them that their suffering doesn't matter, and normalizes impunity in cases of criminal sexual behavior, and in Epstein's case, pedophilia.
From left, Donald Trump and now-wife Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at Mar-a-Lago 12 February 2000
Let us reflect upon this, and ask ourselves how and when did we get here. What went so wrong that today, in the 21st century, victims are scared to speak out and convicted sex offenders are coveted? That we blame victims for the abuse they endured and let their abusers off the hook? That Epstein’s victims were afraid to speak out, but the world’s most influential personalities didn’t mind being photographed with him?
Now we ask you again: would you have come forward? Knowing that the justice system never tried Epstein for his crimes, that the press was under his payroll, and that the suffering he made you endure was not enough to make political leaders and other influential figures steer clear of him, would you have found the courage to speak out?
Epstein: Solo player or Team captain?
‘Where are these people now?’ you may ask, ‘surely their connection with a convicted pedophile and sex trafficker demands further criminal enquiry?’. Judging from the fact that these names are still prominent today for reasons other than arrest warrants, I think these questions answer themselves.
It is funny how, after the Epstein scandal resurfaced in 2019, every single one of his powerful friends seem to have taken their distance, all singing the same “Oh, I haven spoken of him in a decade” lullaby.
What's worse is that it’s not just a ‘friendly connection’ to Epstein that’s tied to these names; not merely a photograph or two, but for the case of Prince Andrew, it is a direct allegation of sexual abuse paired with a response of radio silence to do anything about it. How is it that someone can be accused of sexually abusing a 17 year old girl, can have an eye witness tying him to that same victim whilst additionally giving perhaps the world’s most incriminating interview and yet maintain a position within England’s most prestigious family?
Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, then known as Virginia Roberts, along with Ghislaine Maxwell. This photo was included in an affidavit where Giuffre claimed Prince Andrew directed her to have sex with him. ©Florida Southern District Court
Power. That’s what it all comes down to. Many of the people tied to Epstein are not your 'average Joes', but are rather the ones seen to rule over them, standing in positions of authority so great that they believe themselves to be untouchable. But, as we have seen with Maxwell, no one is truly out of reach. A time will come - it must come - where they are made to answer for their actions and face the consequences of doing so. Yet, in order for that to happen, it is up to us to make sure that those actions never fall into the background, because just as this mini-series has re-shone a light onto the darkest of crimes, we must make sure that that light never goes out again.
Check out the trailer for the Netflix miniseries here: