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Jeffrey Epstein’s victim says release of documents was ‘retraumatizing’: ‘Consistently triggering’
Elizabeth Stein explained explain that the exposure of the “very gory details” and “most intimate secrets of your life” makes things difficult for survivors"
A Jeffrey Epstein victim has opened up on how the recently released documents were “retraumatizing to survivors.” Elizabeth Stein, a sex-trafficking victim who filed a lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein’s estate in November, said that the “constant bombardment” of news about the paedophile’s crimes has been “triggering” for victims. Stein, who was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology and an intern at the now-defunct Henri Bendel department store when she met Epstein and Maxwell, also testified against the madam during her trial.
‘To be bombarded by this constantly…’
“I think that one of the things we need to consider is that this document release is a release of all of the intimate details of these survivors’ experiences. So while people might know that these women are survivors, they might not know the minutiae of what their experience was,” Stein said, according to Law & Crime. “I think it’s important to remember that this is retraumatizing to survivors.”
Stein went on to explain that the exposure of the “very gory details” and “most intimate secrets of your life” makes things difficult for survivors. “The thing that has really been missing from this conversation is survivor voice,” she said. “You know, what is the impact on us?”
“This is a sex trafficking ring that went on for decades and all of the survivors are at various places in their recovery. And to be bombarded by this constantly in the news and to feel the invalidation that nothing is really being done about it is consistently triggering to the victims,” Stein added.
During Maxwell’s sentencing, Stein detailed how she was trafficked by her and Epstein to their friends in the 90s. She said the incidents led her to go for an abortion.
“I was assaulted, raped, and trafficked countless times in New York and Florida during a three-year period,” Stein said. “At one point I became pregnant (by whom I am unsure) and aborted the baby.”
Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell about a month after being arrested in 2019. Maxwell is now serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in December 2021. She was accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse minor girls.
