If you have followed U.S. politics, you’ve likely come across reports on a trove of documents known as the Epstein Files. And if you’ve kept up with the Epstein story more broadly, you’ll know that he, along with Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of trafficking girls for sex. The latest controversy around the release of these files may appear, at first glance, to be another attempt to hold Donald Trump accountable for his involvement with Epstein, potentially even putting his political future at risk.
But there is something far more significant than Trump’s embarrassment.
These files confirm what many suspected: that Trump was part of a “boys’ club” of wealthy, mostly white men with influence in their respective fields; men who purchased access from Epstein to girls, some as young as thirteen. The files also reveal how others in this club defended Epstein or sought his advice on avoiding the legal and social consequences of rape and sexual abuse.
Rebecca Watson, a long-time advocate for women’s rights, particularly in science, provides an excellent overview of some of these individuals (see her video for more detail).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNLdyWPAz18
What Watson makes clear is that Epstein used Maxwell to recruit vulnerable girls who were then sold to rich men. The client list continues to expand as more information surfaces, and suddenly these previously untouchable men are finding themselves in headlines they cannot escape.
We should be very clear about the issues.
Any adult woman has the right to make decisions about her own body, including engaging in sex work. If that work is consensual, safe, and free from coercion, it is no one else’s business. But consent is the crucial element. Laws defining sexual assault and statutory rape exist precisely because what appears to be consensual on the surface is not when the individual lacks the capacity to give informed consent. Girls—no matter how mature they may look or feel—cannot consent. Vulnerable women, pressured by circumstances or belief systems, may also be unable to consent freely.
Research worldwide shows that the average age of puberty onset in girls has dropped significantly—about three months earlier per decade over the past fifty years. Higher body mass index (BMI) is linked to earlier breast development, partly mediated by leptin. As a result, some early maturing girls appear older than they are, leading adults to treat them as more emotionally or cognitively mature than they can possibly be. This mismatch creates confusion, stress, and vulnerability. Early maturing girls may “enjoy” the attention of older men in a naïve, romanticised sense, without understanding the dangers or intentions behind that attention.
In Epstein’s “heyday,” girls were recruited through social events; party invitations and in-person grooming. Today, this scouting takes place online, giving predators an even more efficient system for identifying and targeting vulnerable girls and women.
The perpetrators, as always, will attempt to disappear until the news cycle moves on. Perhaps some boys’ clubs will be dismantled; perhaps Trump will face real consequences. But I am not optimistic that the Epstein Files will produce any widespread moral awakening in Western society.
What remains certain is this: girls and women will continue to be systematically exploited, and our vigilance, especially toward those with money and power, must not waver.