AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
“There’s no so blind as those that cannot see,” was a favourite saying of my mother’s, referring to those who refuse to recognise what is in plain sight. Never truer than in the case of the web of sex intrigue surrounding convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Curious isn’t it, how, following the disgrace of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, with the release of three and a half million Epstein files, Britain has been rocked by scandal bringing down former US Ambassador Peter Mandelson and nearly toppling PM Kier Starmer, the revelations in the heavily redacted files have scarcely caused a ripple in the US.
Numerous high profile men with links to Epstein, from Donald Trump to Elon Musk, have denied any knowledge of the way that the disgraced financier who abused around 1,000 young women and underage girls, and used sex with them as bait to draw people into his net. This, despite the way the locals on Epstein’s island Little St James referred to it as Paedophile Island, having seen the number of teenage girls brought there. Epstein was first convicted with procuring a child for prostitution in 2008.
Given the reach of Epstein’s tentacles it would be surprising if they didn’t touch Ireland which he visited a number of times. Among the files is the story of a woman who was trafficked to Ireland for sex with politicians and high-ups, the claims have been raised in the Dail but so far a complaint which would allow the Gardai to investigate has not been made.
But Epstein’s activities are only the tip of the iceberg in the murky world of sex trafficking, which is a crime – as opposed to people smuggling where there is consent – and a violation of human rights. Blue Blindfold, named for the blindfolds used by traffickers, the Department of Justice campaign dealing with trafficking and forced prostitution reported 42 cases of trafficking in 2022 involving 23 females, 17 men and five minors.
In a situation, surely very under detected, where women and girls are the most vulnerable, sexual exploitation is the most common motive for trafficking followed by labour.
Dedicated to supporting women impacted by sex trafficking and forced prostitution Ruhama Ireland experienced a 75% increase in demand for their services here last year. The majority of their contacts come via women seeking International Protection, and where lack of work and housing drives women into prostitution.
Victims aren’t the only ones who are blindfolded, though. It’s selective blindness by men using them that helps to keep the crime hidden and undetected. An extraordinary study, where Ruhama Ireland took part in a EU survey, reveals just how pervasive this blindness is.
An advert was posted of a provocative female silhouette in Dublin 4 locations for 20 days with a phone number. Callers initially hear a woman promising lots of sensual fun, before becoming distressed, saying that she doesn’t want to be here and asking for help. The ad. received 759 responses, 82% of the male callers enquired about the services she offered without paying any heed to her distress call for help.
When sex is advertised or offered, it seems that most men who respond to the invitation don’t inquire how such is being made available to them. That same blindness was also in evidence in the shocking case of French woman Gisele Pelicot, whose husband drugged her and invited 72 men to rape her as she lay insensible in their marital bed. Some of the men claimed the act was consensual, others that the husband’s consent was sufficient.
While much of the focus in the fallout from the Epstein files has been salacious interest in the big names mentioned and whether they partook of his poisoned chalice of sex and sordid intrigue, attention is finally switching to victims whose identities are hidden, reduced to black squares in the redacted files.
Now the Democrats have introduced a Bill in the US to scrap the 10-year statute of limitations so that victims of sex abuse and trafficking can seek redress. The Bill is named Virginia’s Law for Virginia Guiffre, trafficked by Epstein in the 1990s, who died by suicide last year after her claims against Andrew Mountbatten Windsor were settled.
But, unless that wilful blindness on the part of so many changes, sex trafficking will continue to prosper and cause untold misery for its victims.
