Why it’s important to believe sex abuse victims. Takeaways from Virginia Giuffre’s memoir
Jeffrey Epstein victim’s memoir hit bestseller lists just days before former Prince Andrew, whom she accused of abuse, was stripped of titles.
Details revealed in the recently released “Nobody’s Girl,” a posthumous memoir by Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre, resounded around the world.
The book quickly reached bestseller status and is being cited in news stories about the decision of Britain’s King Charles to strip his brother Andrew, an Epstein pal and alleged accomplice, of the titles prince and duke of York.
Giuffre, who was one of the more prominent of the girls and young women abused by Epstein, died in April by suicide. Her memoir details how Epstein and his then-partner Ghislaine Maxwell inducted her into a ring of sex traffickers when she was a 16-year-old employee at Mar-A-Lago.
Epstein committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is now serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses.
Giuffre’s book also explores her account of child sexual abuse at the hands of her father as well as the mental, emotional and physical toll of years of exploitation by wealthy and powerful men, among whom Giuffre famously included former Prince Andrew.
Northeastern Global News talked to Carlos Cuevas, Northeastern University professor of criminology and criminal justice, about the burdens carried by sex abuse survivors.
Cuevas, who is also a clinical psychologist and expert in the treatment of trauma, described the courage it takes to disclose abuse to even one trusted person, let alone the whole world.
The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Giuffre accused former Prince Andrew of abusing her when she was 17 and kept a photo of herself with him and Maxwell. Andrew denies ever meeting Giuffre but settled a case out of court with her in 2022. Is the loss of his title vindication for Giuffre?
We don’t have a lot of public information about what he may have done. None of this is real accountability for any offending or inappropriate behavior, like facing legal charges.
The mother of two boys and a girl, Giuffre wrote she was inspired to publicly accuse Epstein and Maxwell and their associates when her daughter was born. How hard is it for victims to come forward?
Just disclosing the abuse is an incredibly courageous thing to do.
If you disclose, you might get threatened, you might not be believed, you might get victim-blamed.
One of the particular issues with this case is that some of the people involved were high-profile individuals. They will want to shut you up and have a lot of ways to do so. It can make it hard to disclose somebody has been abusing you if they can make your life miserable.
It’s not surprising that we have such huge underreporting when it comes to sexual abuse. False disclosures are incredibly rare, so there’s never really a legitimate reason not to believe someone.
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Among the many tragic topics in the book was Giuffre’s description of being sexually abused by her father and his friend starting when she was 7 years old. Does prior abuse make people more vulnerable to being re-victimized?
Experiencing abuse is a huge risk factor for revictimization. There’s actually quite a bit of research that talks about the risk.
There are a few theories.
One is that victims have been desensitized to danger cues that most of us would normally react to. You are maybe more detached or desensitized to threats.
Also, when the abuse starts early, developmentally you are learning something kids aren’t supposed to learn. It’s going to be hard to understand appropriate boundaries.
In the case of incest, it isn’t just a trauma experience. The victim has to deal with the loss of not having a parent, because the perpetrator wasn’t parenting the way they were supposed to. It’s a loss of what should have been a normal developmental parent-child experience.
Often the impact of abuse can put people in risky environments. For example, if someone develops a substance abuse disorder as a result of the abuse, they may end up in more dangerous circumstances associated with obtaining and using substances.
Perpetrators may pick up on perceived vulnerability and try to take advantage of that. There are a lot of different mechanisms that could be at play. There isn’t really any consensus around what they may be, but we certainly know being a victim very much puts you at risk to experience that again, sadly.
Not only that, but there’s a pretty robust body of research that talks about the physical health impact of victimization and abuse, particularly regarding the potential biological mechanisms underpinning chronic health conditions.
What can people do to support someone who is in the process of disclosing abuse?
Believing them, supporting them and listening to them are probably three of the most important things you want to do when somebody shares that kind of information.
Recognize that disclosure isn’t a single, straightforward event. I might tell you a little bit now. I might tell you a little bit later. I may tell you right after it happens or I might not tell you for years.
Don’t say, ‘You should do this or that.’ Really let them drive the car. You have to remember when somebody is being abused, somebody else took away their control.
It’s really important that they get to be in charge of how they navigate disclosure.
