Review: Silenced no More
A review of Silenced No More, Surviving my Journey to Hell and Back, by Epstein/Maxwell victim/survivor Sarah Ransome. (Released Dec 2021)
Silenced no More is powerful, and quite possibly the most powerful Epstein survivor story I’ve seen to date - not because of the story. Every account brings something new. But for me personally and for CAAGe, this is the book that shows:
how the women and girls were sucked into Epstein and Maxwell’s trafficking;
how ‘survival sex’ permeates the very being of people with few alternatives;
how this was, yes, about the rape of girls under the age of consent, but also about the grooming of older women;
how grooming works. (Ransome regularly references Grant Sinnamon’s Psychology of Adult Sexual Grooming.)
Like Virginia Giuffre, outhor of Nobodys Girl, Ransome was looking for a new life when Maxwell found her and ‘recruited’ her into Epstein’s web. Unlike teenage tearaway Giuffre, she was 22 when she moved to New York with high hopes for a better life, an education, and a career in fashion. She was invited to Epstein’s Island island and from there on in, the two women have a lot in common. Both girls were, in their own ways running, unsupported and looking for a way to survive. Perfect pickings for Maxwell.
Why ‘Silenced No More’ is so Powerful
If Vicky Ward showed Maxwell’s complexity in her story, Chasing Ghislaine, Ransome’s account is part of the same story but from the inside.
She is heartbreakingly raw about her complicity in her own downfall, offering the reader a painful insight into how Maxwell and Epstein were so ‘successful’ at what they did, from recruiting their targets, the way they kept everyone in their own lane, how they punished and rewarded to get what they wanted.
It’s an insight into why the women didn’t/couldn’t leave. It’s an insight into human frailty and strength. Into how ‘divide and rule’ stopped the victims from working together. And if you ever felt that Maxwell was a victim as well, in as much as Epstein toyed with her as well then maybe, but that’s where it ends. What emerges here is a face of abject cruelty with a vivacious front. Maxwell used her socialite status and a ‘kind female’ face to hide her role. She was anything but kind. And the men who used the trafficked women were doubtless themselves used too: Ransome’s not the first to mention videos.
But surrounded by so much power and money, no-one was ever going to believe these girls and women until they all spoke up together. It’s decades sine Maria and Annie Farmer tried hard to blow the whistle, at considerable personal cost.
Ransome also calls Epstein out for exactly what he is: a serial rapist. She calls his ‘massaging and modelling’ scam out for what it is: a sex trafficking operation.
By contrast, the survivors are not to be viewed as harlots or prostitutes. They mostly did whatever they did to stay alive. (And this case is littered with dead bodies including Jean-Luc Brunel, the head of a French modeling agency who allegedly trafficked girls to Epstein, found hanged in a Paris prison cell awaiting trial; Steve Bing, who jumped from the 27th floor and died after talking to the FBI about Epstein; Thomas Bowers, head of the Deutsche Bank division, that moved money for Epstein, found hanged at his home….)
Justice?
There is no justice. Epstein was never fully tried, beyond the sham of a first trial (2008- pre #MeToo’s explosion) that offered Maxwell protection and Epstein the easiest ‘prison stay’ and allowed him to continue operating on release -the Acosta ‘Sweetheart Deal’.
It took 30 years for anything to truly be acted upon.
However, the judge in Epstein’s second case, as recounted here, heals just a little my very damaged view of the justice system. They heard the victims despite Epstein’s ‘escape’.
Ransome’s story makes patently obvious why being heard is so important. Why knowing who the other victims are offers strength. How badly let down the victims were. And how much being believed matters.
The Ones the Got Away
In the aftermath of the trial that never happened, Ransome visited Epstein’s Paris home. It was still being served by a butler and staff. Like Ransome, I’m shocked. How was this even possible? How could those people continue to be part of the Epstein roadshow? Who is paying to keep it going, and who for?
Maxwell was found hiding in plain sight, arrested, has now been tried and is in prison - apparently getting a fairly easy ride of it, and about to launch appeals. That must sting the victims, who have waited so long for any kind of justice. (Our own research reveals just how devastating being a target of adult grooming can be.)
Ransome’s personal solutions to her experience are sobriety, God and counselling. “Community is a potent tonic.”
“The pursuit of justice should not abate. Please finish what you started” she implored the judge who would have tried Epstein had he survived.
Ransome calls for a thorough investigation of the whole case and what should be learned. Who was involved? Who knew? How do we stop this happening again?
Les Wexner, whose ‘Victoria’s Secret’ brand offered credibility to the ‘I’ll make you a model’ lie, was involved in funding Epstein.
At least three women suggest having being trafficked to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the former Prince Andrew.
President Trump was close to Epstein, travelled to Epstein’s island, was there, but who knows to what level of involvement. He’s not the only politician marred by association
Bill Gates’ association with Epstein apparently cost him his marriage.
Other women were involved in recruiting in victims. And staff saw and did nothing. Whilst their silence was clearly a part of their employment pact, are they not cupable at very least of aiding and abetting? I hate that it will be the ‘minions’ who take some of the flack, but for as long as there are no consequences for remaining silent, for bystanding without trying to stop it, this going to happen again - almost certainly already is, somewhere away from the media glare.
For anyone who wants to clear their name it must surely be just as important to have their stories heard as for the victims. People need holding to account for what they participated in. Need to be ashamed for turning a blind eye. And just as importantly, for not seeing justice done: how the Acosta judgement was sanctioned must be as much of a mystery to others as it is to me.
Join Us- Demand Better
Of course I’ve added my own notes here, but Ransome covers much of this and more. The book is well worth the time to read it.
So yes to Sarah Ransome. We’re behind her -and all of the other victims - all the way!!
Join us! Just this one case has hundreds of victims. Unless justice is seen to be done here, in full public glare, what hope do others have?
