Abuse survivors urge accountability and support ahead of the much-anticipated release of the files related to the late sex offender in the United States.<\/p>\n
Published On 22 Nov 202522 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n
share2<\/p>\n
A group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s decades-long sexual abuse have said that they have been receiving death threats, which they expect to escalate, as the date nears for the release of files<\/a> concerning the deceased convicted paedophile financier.<\/p>\n In a statement titled \u201cWhat we\u2019re bracing for\u201d and made public on Thursday, Epstein\u2019s survivors have demanded accountability and legal support to face their abusers and get justice.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cMany of us have already received death threats and other threats of harm. We are bracing for these to escalate,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ask every federal and state law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over these threats to investigate them and protect us.\u201d<\/p>\n They also warned that there have been attempts to blame the victims for their own or each other\u2019s abuse.<\/p>\n Some of the survivors have increased the pace of their campaigning efforts recently to pressure the United States administration to release the Justice Department\u2019s files on the late sex offender, speaking publicly about their stories.<\/p>\n The furore has dominated the national agenda in the US with President Donald Trump backpedalling on his opposition against the Justice Department releasing the files with a sudden about-face last week.<\/p>\n Trump signed<\/a> a bill on Wednesday requiring the Justice Department to release all of the files related to the disgraced financier.<\/p>\n That was one day after the legislation was unanimously approved in the US Senate.<\/p>\n After he signed the move into law, the department has 30 days<\/a> to make them public.<\/p>\n \u2018Continue fighting\u2019<\/p>\n The development follows weeks of intense political fighting about how far to go in disclosing records tied to Epstein.<\/p>\n The release could identify some of the most high-profile figures in politics, entertainment and business.<\/p>\n \u201cYears ago, Epstein got away with abusing us by portraying us as flawed and bad girls,\u201d said the statement by the survivors, demanding full disclosure of the files.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot let his enablers use this tactic to escape accountability now,\u201d added the appeal, signed by 18 named survivors and 10 Jane Does.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ask our champions in Congress and in the public to continue fighting to make sure all materials are released, not selected ones.\u201d<\/p>\n For one survivor, Marina Lacerda, the upcoming publication of the files represents more than an opportunity for justice.<\/p>\n Lacerda says she was just 14 when Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York mansion, but she struggles to recall much of what happened because it is such a dark period in her life. Now, she\u2019s hoping that the files will reveal more about the trauma that distorted so much of her adolescence.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel that the government and the FBI knows more than I do, and that scares me, because it\u2019s my life, it\u2019s my past,\u201d she told The Associated Press news agency.<\/p>\n Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. He pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution.<\/p>\n Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein survivor whose painful story has been one of the most high-profile cases, had reportedly faced a campaign of intimidation and threats before she died by suicide<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n