Virginia Giuffre’s death by suicide at the age of 41 should force us all to ask an uncomfortable question: how are we still living in a society where so many victims of sexual abuse are not just left unsupported, but treated as criminals themselves?
Suicide is always complex and it is unwise to attribute it to one single thing. But we know, from Ms Giuffre’s heartbroken family, that her experiences with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had continued to haunt her, as is so often the case with victims of sex crimes.
‘Virginia lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,’ her family said in a statement. ‘In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.’ Ms Giuffre had been open about the impact that Epstein and his accomplice
Ghislaine Maxwell had had on her. ‘There are scars that will never, ever heal, ever,’ she said in 2019, when interviewed about the reasons why she had dedicated her life to advocating for victims of sex trafficking.
‘But to me, more than anything, it’s a responsibility that I have, and I implore the community to please stand next to me and help me bring down all these bad people. And if you’ve got somebody in your life that’s doing this to you too, speak out, stand up, the times are changing, as they should be. And it’s a good time to start holding these monsters accountable.’
She was ruthlessly attacked by strangers on the internet, not to mention so-called ‘allies’ of Prince Andrew (Virginia pictured in a hospital bed this year)
Virginia Giuffre with Sarah Ransome (left) and Marijke Chartouni (right) after having met at an emotional court hearing for victims of Epstein in 2019
Reading those words back now, I feel absolutely heartbroken for Ms Giuffre.
She was ruthlessly attacked by strangers on the internet, not to mention so-called ‘allies’ of Prince Andrew. Yesterday Lady Victoria Hervey posted a screenshot of the news about Ms Giuffre’s death, alongside the words: ‘When lies catch up to you there’s no way out.’
Lady Victoria later added that she had ‘taken the decision to pause my posts on Virginia Giuffre at this time. Irrespective of the circumstances, suicide in anyone at any time is tragic, and in a young mother who has children, even more so’. But for many this was too little, too late.
Just a month ago, Lady Victoria had mocked Ms Giuffre when she posted from her hospital bed, claiming she only had four days to live. ‘Karma’, wrote Lady Victoria, adding the mocking strains of The Final Countdown to her Instagram post.
Royal experts at the time suggested the strange episode could work in Prince Andrew’s favour, calling into question the credibility of Ms Giuffre as a witness. (All of this while conveniently ignoring the royal’s own credibility, given that earlier this year, doubt was cast on his claims to have cut all ties with Epstein in 2010 – after the emergence of emails that showed the pair were still in contact a few months later.)
At the time, I wrote a column in the Mail saying how disgusted I was that establishment figures would see it as an opportunity to rehabilitate Andrew, rather than calling it out for what it clearly was: a desperately sad example of the devastating impact of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s wicked crimes.
I was shocked when my social media accounts were bombarded by trolls smearing Ms Giuffre’s name in the most disgusting way. It was a small glimpse into what she must have had to put up with since 2011, when she took the brave step to go public with her story.
Born Virginia Roberts in California in 1983, she experienced childhood sexual abuse. As a 14-year-old, she lived on the streets before being drugged and raped by sex trafficker Ron Eppinger.
She was not the only victim of Epstein but Ms Giuffre was the most high profile and she doggedly campaigned for justice for victims of sex trafficking (Pictured with Prince Andrew and Maxwell in 2001)
At 16, while working as a locker room assistant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, she was accosted by Maxwell, who asked her to work as a massage therapist for Epstein. She was not the only victim of Epstein – Julie K Brown, an investigative journalist at the Miami Herald whose work helped to bring down the financier, identified around 80 of his victims – but Ms Giuffre was the most high profile and she doggedly campaigned for justice for victims of sex trafficking.
‘He had enough money to get the finest prostitutes that he wanted but he didn’t want that,’ said Ms Brown in 2021. ‘He wanted scared, young girls. That was all part of his fantasy… it was like a revolving door… he wanted fresh, young girls all of the time… he wanted a continuing parade of young girls.’
Ms Brown added that ‘he didn’t do this alone. He had a whole ecosystem that he created that allowed this to happen’.
Will those people today be feeling any remorse at the death of this young mother? Or will they simply forget about her, like so many of Epstein’s other victims?
Leigh Patrick died at the age of 29 of a heroin overdose, her sister saying that her life spiralled out of control after she met Epstein at 16 (he paid her $300 to take her top off). Dainya Nida, also molested by Epstein at 16, attempted suicide.
One woman, identified in court only as ‘Jane Doe 15’, said she was assaulted by Epstein at 15 and that his abuse pushed her ‘to the point where I purchased a gun and drove to an isolated place to end my suffering’.
Michelle Licata was 16 when she was molested by Epstein. She said that the anger she felt at her abuse had led her to punch holes in the wall.
These are just the women we know about, the ones who dug deep and somehow found the courage to speak out.
It’s a grim roll call and underlines that sad fact that the people who have experienced the most severe punishment for Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes are the women themselves.
And like far too many victims of sexual abuse, Virginia Giuffre has now paid the highest price of all.
