By Sally Barnes

Listening to the “The Today Programme” on BBC Radio 4, recently, regarding Jeffrey Epstein and the lack of diligence by the Metropolitan Police in not following through investigation of the trafficking of girls and women in this country associated with the case, I could not help but wonder, who, or what, it is that is preventing the police from carrying out a full investigation, in the light of all the evidence they have had from Virginia Giuffre and others.

The interview on BBC Radio 4 Today (https://x.com/bbcr4today/status/2047602351893098797?s=12,) with Harriet Wistrich, eminent solicitor and CEO for the Centre for Women’s Justice, was a telling one. Wistrich specialises in cases involving women who have been sexually assaulted or killed by their violent partners.  She commented that where police failed to take these accusations forward, and their failure has not been challenged, despite the numbers involved, it leads to further harm to more women who have been trafficked. Being asked why she thought Epstein was allowed to carry out crimes without proper investigation, her response was perhaps an obvious one, that where there is an allegation against someone powerful, protected by others of power with their own vested interest, there is a fear of policing those who are connected with it all. In other words, the police and other authority figures are afraid or deterred from their investigations.  

Wistrich felt there is no doubt that instigators are being protected. The police, when asked, apparently insisted they were confident they had worked to address this within the law as it stands. If they have, it has to be asked why it has taken so long with so few results. It seems obvious that, getting to the nub of such widespread and blatant injustices, in the face of powerful people of all types, is not something that comes easily.  But does that justify inaction? It feels more like passing-the-buck, in the face of sophisticated and organised trafficking in the UK, backed by known, wealthy people of power and status.

Wistrich commented that where police fail to link repeated claims, by not ‘joining the dots’, it leads to offenders getting away with their crimes. The BBC’s investigation (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn08j2g9ze9o) focussed on the files they had on Epstein. They found he had been paying rent on four flats in London and some in Paris but, in spite of Virginia Giuffre’s evidence, the police would not investigate. One wonders, why not? Had the police really been fully and continuously engaged; had a deep investigation been launched with serious intent, it might have been more likely that Epstein’s activities could have been halted. A spokesperson for the Slavery Association criticised the missed opportunities there had been.  There were 125 women, several under age, who had been trafficked. Presumably it is still going on.

Listening to all this it is clear that a criminal lack of serious intent has been exhibited. It indicates that, as so many of us believe, in the light of the many well-publicised and high-profile cases, in this country society as a whole attaches no real importance to the wellbeing of women, and especially to the protection of vulnerable women and young girls. There is widespread collusion with abusers by those who surround and protect them, who are equally culpable. They know who they are.

The same can be said of many instances of abuse which have been covered up in the Church of England to protect their own. But this is no new thing. If we think this is something unique to our age, we would be totally mistaken. It merely continues how women have been treated in our society for generations. It travels in one continuous line. It has no break in it.  All the time I have been following the Epstein story and that of others, there has been a feeling of déjà-vu going round in my head.

Déjà-vu: stories of women being trafficked across the Continent by people of power, the rich, the industrialists, the lawyers, priests, businessmen, aristocrats, royalty and on and on. These are the types of people who are involved. It has been deliberately carried out at the cost of young lives, women being sold across Europe and now in America. We are seeing nothing new.

My recollection was evoked by the biography of a woman I have always admired, for her determination, dogged perseverance, courage and faith in the face of powerful opposition. It is the story of the Epstein files in Victorian dress: “When Courage Calls; Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women” by Sarah C Williams. It is a book that I recommend everyone to read. (See https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/sarah-c-williams/when-courage-calls-josephine-butler-and-the-radical-pursuit-of-justice-for-women/9781399803731/)
 

From 1863 onwards, Butler fought against the sexual double standards that permeated Victorian society where, under the surface of respectability, so much was rotten to the core. Seeing the hypocrisy of the time among her own class, and those in the hierarchy, she fought a 16-year campaign, a battle to repeal the controversial Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s (1864, 1866, 1869) which forced women suspected of prostitution to be examined to see if they had venereal disease and incarcerated for long periods if they had. The men, of course, were left alone to spread it further, among their wives and mistresses too no doubt. Butler’s aim was to establish the fair and equal treatment of all women. This is arguably still ‘work in progress’.

Sustained by her faith, her prayers, her husband, a small group of friends and an ever growing number of women of all classes, Josephine Butler fought relentlessly against powerful opposition from all sides to get the Act repealed. She did so at great cost to her health and personal welfare. She discovered in the process that the trafficking of young women, often sold by parents who were themselves living in abject poverty, was carried out by the very people she was attempting to persuade to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act, which is why it took so long. The stories of exploitation and the misery that these young women endured, some as young as 13 years old, are horrific and, as similar abuses do today, invite real condemnation of the wider Society which allowed it to take place. (See https://navigator.health.org.uk/theme/contagious-diseases-act for The Health Foundation’s historical note.)

We could ask, what, if anything, has changed.  It could be said that because of the spread of social media and the attendant greater publicity, these atrocities can be better illuminated: but, at the same time, if they are not going to be taken as seriously as they should by those who have the power, what good does that do, other than creating more “inconsequential trivia” to read about?

Women are still abused and murdered by husbands, partners and male-others, in spite of police being warned. It is interesting to note that when such cases are given media publicity, it is usually because the women themselves have had the courage to speak out – and of course, to re-live the abuse all over again, at great cost. Just as happened with the Epstein women and those abused by others, potential complainants have great pressure put upon them not to speak. These women are the courageous ones.

There are more “Josephine Butlers”, female and male, and investigative journalists, who speak out, who fight for the abused and trafficked women, and we wish more strength to their arm, but, listening to them, their frustration is clear about how little can be achieved that is lasting, unless there is a dismantling of the power structures that keep it all in place.

There are no easy answers, other than the one thing that could be achieved, which is that women in every area of life should be valued and respected mentally, emotionally, intellectually and physically, in Church and State; this will enable our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, granddaughters, cousins and friends to live full and secure lives, developing their gifts and abilities with no constraints.
 

The sting in the tail, of course, is that it is up to men to keep their part of the bargain and make sure this happens, ensuring that male members of their families and friends do their bit too.

I am not optimistic at the moment. The protection of power, wealth and self-interest is so great that to dismantle all that when you have it in abundance is a huge, and possibly overwhelming, task. But we could always hang on to the “possibly”. Sadly, there are no other answers that I can see. Perhaps, gentle reader, you can. 

8th May 2026