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The silence after Epstein Files is a global feminist defeat

The latest protest by feminist group Femen is just another statement in a long line of hollow efforts that will make headlines for a day or two, but will soon be forgotten.

A group of women in Paris recently protested the lacklustre attitude of authorities in investigating those named in the Epstein Files. Videos from the Sunday protest was the first thing I saw when I woke up yesterday. What can one say that hasn’t already been said by those far more eloquent?

The infamous Epstein Files have been available for public consumption for some time now. They have been scrutinised, critiqued, ridiculed, and bulldozed over by the crisis in Iran (Thanks to Mr Trump), but a collective groan of disappointment remains etched for many of us around the globe.

And it is now starting to fester into resentment toward institutional complicity, denial, and inaction. If world governments are capable of waging war, they are equally capable of holding accountable those accused in the Epstein case.

“Women’s Day” came and went—a hollow tokenary appreciation of the “female effort”. But what good does it do when paedophiles and sexual predators run free?

The latest protest by feminist group Femen is just another statement in a long line of hollow efforts that will make headlines for a day or two, but will then be forgotten, much like the photo of former Prince Andrew featuring in the Louvre.

Also read: Indian women’s football team’s Asian Cup exit doesn’t tell the story of their rise

Searching for accountability?

When Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday about a month ago, I—like many others—cheered the investigation. Finally, action was being taken against the allegations made by the many victims and survivors of the devil’s favourite child and financier, Epstein. But King Charles III’s younger brother was freed less than 24 hours after he was taken into custody.

Even former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland, who was charged with “gross corruption” following links with Epstein, is running free.

Former US President Bill Clinton “agreed” to testify, but what good is testimony that blatantly ignores the real questions and skirts answers?

So we can talk about women’s achievements and girl power till kingdom come, but it is of no use. I don’t see a feminist movement; I see feminist depression.

Where we were once raised and buoyed by the #MeToo movement and the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists (2013), we are now complicit with our collective silence.

There is no search for accountability, disclosure, or transparency. We have seamlessly moved on from one of the biggest sex scandals of our time to yet another war. Interestingly, since the US-Israel War on Iran, searches for the Epstein Files have fallen by 95 per cent according to Google Trends data.

With this brush-it-under-the-rug and “let’s move on” attitude (Trump, 2026), what are we telling future generations and other survivors?

We are quick to take up arms against every small blunder any minor celebrity commits on social media, but when our world leaders are shown to be predators and worse, we simply turn the other cheek? I am in no way, shape, or form telling anyone not to speak up; we should always stand against injustice. I am merely expressing my disappointment with the fact that despite our outrage and protests, the needle hasn’t moved.

As a woman and a so-called “feminist”, I am ashamed, disheartened, and worried about the future. But I am not surprised. In a world where young girls are often told “Kisi ko mat batana (Don’t tell anyone)” when a family elder or anyone sexually abuses or harasses them, the shame is somehow transferred to the victim. 

The quiet after the Epstein Files is another reminder of that shame that somehow never touches the accused—the men in power. So this Women’s History Month, I remember the disappointment. Another item in a long list of how men have let women down.

(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)

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