There has been so much news bombarding us that it’s easy to shut down as we wonder what the next bombshell will be, literally with what’s happening with Iran, and hopefully only figuratively.
We know the issues that take front and center stage until we turn the station, deciding that the dramas will keep playing out whether we watch or not. I know I am not the only one questioning the strategy of the bombardment of news items fed to us by this administration as distractions from what is immoral and criminal. But we will not be fooled.
The debacle of the Epstein files has been front and center for me, and I will not be distracted. Throughout my 45-year career as a psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, specifically because of childhood sexual and physical abuse, I am keenly attuned to this subject; I cannot look away. The persistence of the Epstein scandal remains deeply troubling on several levels. I have spent my career listening to horrific descriptions of childhood abuse, in whatever form they manifest. I did not look away, though I often wanted to. It was necessary for me to enter where “angels fear to tread” to hold with the client that horror, so she (I will use this pronoun, though abuse is certainly not limited to females) wouldn’t feel alone, disbelieved, ashamed, and at times, like an outcast. The consequences of child abuse are deeply embedded internally, manifesting differently for victims, but commonalities range from shame, self-blame (“it was my fault” — even though she was a child, or circumstantially was lied to and, or manipulated), and fear, to name a few. Too often I had to temper the anger and astonishment at what human beings can do to a child, or a vulnerable helpless adult. I relied on the law as much as possible — the law that described the behavior of a perpetrator/pedophile as criminal. Sometimes my advocacy for an abused child resulted in the perpetrator’s imprisonment.
So here I am many years later, retired, distressed, and shocked that the revelations of the Epstein files are resulting in the most egregious coverup of my lifetime. It makes me sick; sick for the victims, sick at the degradation of our country, sick for the many client who believed in repair and justice hoping they could heal, resolve the abuse, and move on. That is not happening for the victims of the Epstein scandal. Joyce Vance, a lawyer and author of “Civil Discourse” (Substack), displayed a redacted item from the Epstein files (“The Week Ahead,” Feb. 22) that described a message to Jeffrey Epstein which read, “Thank you for a fun night … Your littlest girl was a bit naughty (2014).” Who was this? Obviously, a perpetrator and probably a pedophile. Vance reiterates, “The survivors deserve to have all this made public,” even though the Justice Department “erroneously” named the victims but strategically redacted the names of the perpetrators. I doubt it was an error.
Harper Thompson and the team of the Women’s Postwrote about Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, and her long relationship with Epstein despite knowing he was a convicted sex offender (Substack, Feb. 6). The princess admits “poor judgment” which “suggests an accident,” a not knowing, “lack of information,”, “confusion,” none of which fit the reality of the situation. Harper writes, “Continuing to associate with him under those circumstances was not a lapse. It was a conscious decision to prioritize social and personal comfort over moral clarity.” She goes on to state that the victims are “real people, many minors at the time,” who were “manipulated, trafficked, and abused for years.” … “Many suffered psychological trauma.” You think?? After reading this article, I wept. I thought of the years of sitting with the shattered souls of victims as I supported and encouraged repair. I can only hope that the victims still with us are being supported, and loved, unlike Virgina Giuffre, a victim who took her life. I write all this to bring awareness and to encourage readers to stay with this topic; don’t become numb, don’t bury it along with all the other anecdotes and atrocities we read daily. We must demand accountability.
Lastly, and importantly, if you still support the man who resides in the White House, if you have a reason why the Epstein scandal does not apply to him (though reportedly he is cited in the unredacted files approximately a million times) … If you think it’s only Democrats who were guilty; if you think it’s all a conspiracy by the “libs,” that the victims are lying, whatever you think or believe that allows you to continue to support him, I will tell you, like I did so many of my clients over the years, silence is complicity. There are coconspirators who looked the other way — in too many cases a parent or guardian who looked away when their children were abused, who are guilty because they did not protect their children. I am not referring to those who must look away because they too are survivors and can’t risk the triggers that bring back memories of their own abuse narrative. I am referring to those who think it’s not important to know what is redacted in these files. Are you a coconspirator? Do you think the rule of law applies to some but not to others? Think again. What if it was your daughter?
In my experience victims don’t lie. Coming forward requires bravery and risk. We are guilty if we do not give justice to the victims and survivors of the Epstein abuse by allowing this cover-up. Silence is complicity.
Joanna Duda resides in Rockport. She recently retired from her private practice in Cambridge.