To all survivors: we are with you.
Whether you choose to speak out about your experiences or heal in private, you don’t owe anyone your story, and you deserve to recover on your own terms. Just being here is enough.
While no survivor should have to publicly disclose their traumatic experiences to get accountability, that’s exactly what survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and the wealthy, powerful perpetrators he trafficked victims to are doing right now to make sure that all our communities are safer in the future.
Across the endless headlines about high-profile names and political theater, the true story of what survivors have always known is getting lost:
This is not just about a specific group of perpetrators. This is about power structures across government institutions, political systems, industries, and international borders that allow powerful people to exploit victims — especially children and marginalized people — with impunity.
These power structures not only create the conditions for wealthy and powerful perpetrators to commit sexual violence against vulnerable people, but they also protect them from facing any consequences or meaningful accountability. As these perpetrators continue their exploitation and abuse and accumulate even more power, victims are left to contend with the aftermath without help from the very systems and institutions that are supposed to protect and support them.
The violence detailed in survivors’ stories and the Epstein files didn’t happen in isolation. Systems enabled it. Institutions protected it. Generations of elected and appointed leaders looked away. And simply “moving on” will only allow it to continue.
At the same time, many of these same institutions that enabled and protected perpetrators like Epstein are slashing the essential federal funding infrastructure — established by Congress decades ago through legislation like the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — to prevent sexual violence and provide services to survivors.
Our movement and organizations like CCASA, which have historically been the local stewards of these federal grants, are in crisis. Many organizations in our movement have had no choice but to downsize staff and slash services, even as our communities’ needs continue to grow.
This is an extremely difficult time for all survivors and everyone who works in the anti-sexual violence field, and our movement will never stop shining the brightest light on survivors’ stories. We will never stop doing all we can to find new, creative ways to continue our work to prevent sexual violence and support survivors.
Get Support
- Check out the Wings Foundation’s support groups for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
- Connect with services in your local community, including programs with confidential and 24/7 support.
- Call or text 988 24/7 or visit ownpath.co to learn about additional mental health resources in Colorado.
Take Action
- Join the CCASA team in writing messages of support and solidarity to survivors of sexual violence.
- Sign up to take more action in Colorado alongside survivors and the advocates who have their backs.
- If you have the resources, donate to CCASA’s advocacy work and local community-based programs.
We are here for you. Thank you for being here for our movement, too.