"There is a strand running through Nobody's Girl a memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who died by suicide in April this year in which the activist and survivor of Jeffrey Epstein grapples with something more insidious than abuse. I know it is a lot to take in, she writes after a gruelling early passage detailing how she was sexually abused as a child. But please don't stop reading."
"Make no mistake: this is a book about power, corruption, industrial-scale sex abuse and the way in which institutions sided with the perpetrator over his victims. Epstein hanged himself in prison while awaiting trial in 2019 and Ghislaine Maxwell, his co-conspirator, is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, outcomes largely enabled by Giuffre's testimony. But it is also a book about how a young woman becomes a hero. And yet here she is, having to charm us out of shrinking from her in horror."
Virginia Roberts Giuffre recounts childhood sexual abuse and systematic trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein that placed her with numerous powerful men. Institutions repeatedly favored the perpetrator over victims, enabling continued abuse. Epstein died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial in 2019. Ghislaine Maxwell received a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, outcomes influenced by Giuffre's testimony. Giuffre describes having to manage public pity and revulsion, attempting to charm and pre-empt judgment. She details an alleged encounter with a politician who choked and beat her almost unconscious. Her experience traces a painful transformation from exploited victim into a public activist seeking accountability.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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