Why Epstein Survivors Should Testify Before Congress |
Last week, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said he would support alleged victims of convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein publicly testifying in front of Congress. This echoes First Lady Melania Trump’s recent call for such a hearing. Epstein died before he was formally convicted of sex trafficking, but the FBI has estimated that Epstein harmed more than 1,000 victims.
As a psychologist who has researched the effects of trauma and has treated survivors for the past 25 years, I join the call for a public hearing. It would be good not only for accountability of perpetrators, but it is in line with recent data showing the resounding effects of public testimony for survivors of sexual violence—and not just Epstein’s victims. Public testimony and subsequent public dialogue could be the healing moment necessary for this uniquely dark situation.
This month saw the publication of a new study on the effects of the disclosure of sexual violence; as it happened, one of the co-authors was Christine Blasey Ford, the psychology professor at Stanford who testified before Congress in 2018 about the alleged sexual assault perpetrated against her in high school by then-Supreme Court nominee (and now Justice) Brett Kavanaugh—which Kavanaugh strongly denies.
The study’s findings have........