The Epstein Files is a deep and dark morality tale of our times. It says as much about man’s greed for sex, money and power as it does about society treating sexual crimes as a minor embarrassment rather than a character flaw. In this chaotic world, hunters win because they have influence and money, as well as membership in a clubby world of fellow allies. The testimony of victims, at most collateral damage, matters little.
Jess Michaels was 22 years old, a rising professional dancer, when Jeffrey Epstein raped her in 1990. In September 2025 she was one of a group of survivors who stood on the steps of the US Capitol demanding the declassification of the Epstein files.
The latest release of more than 3 million pages, on January 30, made him and others less happy: The names of survivors have been redacted carelessly, leaving the names of at least 48 women exposed. In some cases, victim statements, emails, nude photos and personal information including bank accounts are visible.
“A five-year-old could have done a better job,” Michaels told sky news. “It seems to be aimed at scaring survivors, punishing survivors, shaming survivors, and then not actually convicting the perpetrators.”
Another survivor, Ashley Rubright, says it is a “huge violation of one of the most terrifying moments of her life”. told the BBC. And yet, Anne Farmer said that “it is hard to focus on the new information that has been brought to light because of how much harm the DOJ has done to survivors by exposing them in this way.”
DOJ is after the uproar informed Thousands of files were deleted.
#trust women
Women, at least some of them, have been speaking out for years. Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April 2025, also had photographic evidence of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around her then-17-year-old self (barely older than her own daughters, she joked) and Ghislaine Maxwell smiling wickedly in the background.
The former prince said, the picture is fake. Nevertheless, they settled for an undisclosed amount which is estimated to be around $15 million. His mother, the Queen of England, stripped him of his titles. His brother, the King, hastened his eviction from the rent-free, tax-funded residence following the publication of the latest photograph of Andrew crouching like a beast from hell before a prone woman/girl, her face red.
The documents should not have been released to vindicate Guiffre’s allegations. Why didn’t the world believe him? Perhaps this is why survivors of sexual assault are often disbelieved or tried to blame: Why didn’t they come out? Why didn’t he complain earlier?
Epstein and Maxwell’s modus operandi was to target and traffick young, vulnerable women and girls. Some came from broken families, others had abusive backgrounds. Danielle Bensky believes she was 17 when she met Epstein in 2004, along with a total of a thousand girls, some as young as 14.
Annie Farmer’s sister, Maria, was First woman to file a criminal complaint. In 1996, she told the FBI about her employer Epstein’s interest in child pornography. He had, she said, nude photographs of her two sisters. The complaint came at serious personal risk; Epstein warned her that if she ever spoke about it he would burn down her house. Still, the FBI did nothing. Maria Farmer’s complaint was not even mentioned in the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation that handled the Epstein case in 2020.
She cried when the first batch of Epstein files were released in December 2025. “I’ve waited 30 years…they can’t call me a liar now.”
everyone knew
Everyone knew and yet they emailed her, dropped off invitations to her island, flew her on her private jet and asked for her help setting up meetings, finding a job for a child, networking for business.
Did Bill Gates secretly plan to give his then-wife Melinda French Gates antibiotics after she contracted an STD while partying with Epstein’s girls? Was Elon Musk fishing for an invitation to the “wildest party” on Epstein’s island? Left-liberal intellectual Noam Chomsky offered advice on how to deal with the bad press Epstein was receiving. “Ignore the hysteria that has developed over the abuse of women,” he said.
Did businessman Anil Ambani get official approval when he sought Epstein’s help in arranging meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump’s former strategist Steven Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner during his US visit? This is a more relevant question to ask than her response of “arrange that” to Epstein’s suggestion in 2017 to arrange a meeting with a “tall Swedish blonde woman.”
Surely film-maker Mira Nair should have done some groundwork before attending a party to celebrate her 2009 film, Amelia In Maxwell’s Manhattan townhouse? As far as Deepak Chopra is concerned, there are some shades of his which always look suspicious.
Much of this behavior reflects moral lapses and moral failure in being associated with a registered sex offender. This is content that is entertaining for memes, jokes, and social embarrassment but has no real consequences.
There are of course some exceptions, Peter Mandelson already doesn’t have a job after it was revealed that Epstein paid his husband approximately $75,000 and that Mandelson was allegedly leaking government emails and market-sensitive information to Epstein.
The Epstein files aren’t just about this Who as much as it’s about How. How did Jeffrey Epstein survive? How the eco-system that surrounded her continues to protect the dignity of men instead of justice for women. How does such a large-scale sex trafficking ring remain secret?
We have seen this story playing out many times in India too. The justice system works at a different level for people with connections and friends in high places. MeToo in India resulted in more women speaking out. But many of the people named then, like Epstein, are still in business.
How was MJ Akbar, who was sacked as a minister in the Modi government after more than 20 women spoke out against him, chosen to represent India’s situation after Operation Sindoor?
How does former wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh game the system to remain influential?
Mohammed Farooqui was acquitted of rape because a judge deemed the victim’s denials too weak, leading to audiences lining up to invite him to his Dastangoi performances and literary festivals.
Talk of victim-centred justice is often a joke.
Justice for women and girls must go beyond the interests of heads of states and corporations, old-money elites and new-money tech bros, academics and lawyers, a current Republican president and a former Democrat who knew the disgraced financier and was in touch with him even after he was convicted as a sex offender in 2008.
What justice will there be for the hundreds of girls and women who fell victim to Jeffrey Epstein and were trafficked to his dirty friends? At present, the survivors want all the files to be released. They want their identities to be protected (no more hassles with editing names). And they want the world to know the full extent of the horrors they went through.
“We are not asking for mercy,” said Lisa Phillips, one of the survivors who spoke on the steps of the US Capitol last November. “We’re demanding accountability here. I’m demanding justice.”
Postscript
When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked a pointed question about justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors. US President Donald Trump said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.”
When was the last time you heard a man tell another man to smile, let alone appear happy and cheerful when asking about sexual assault survivors? But no one could stop Trump. He said, “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.”
One implication is that women’s main job, even in professional situations, is to appear pleasant while asking tough questions on justice for sexual assault victims. Please smile.
When the man scolding you for failing to smile is a sitting president and the woman is a reporter in his office, there’s an extra bite of authority. He is asserting his authority and establishing dominance over her body, or in this case, her facial features. “You never smile,” Trump complains. Failure is not one of the standards of journalism, it is the failure of a powerful man’s desire to be perceived as pleasant.
Shulamith Firestone who wrote the 1970 book, dialectics of sex They called for what they called the Smile Boycott. “All women will immediately give up their ‘pleasant’ smiles, from now on smiling only when something pleases them.” There’s more at HuffPost Here.
