The Psychological Impact of Unresolved Trauma
Playwright and activist V, previously known as Eve Ensler, has issued a stark warning about the escalating crisis facing survivors of sexual abuse. Her powerful testimony emerges after reading Virginia Giuffre's harrowing memoir Nobody's Girl, which triggered what she describes as a corporeal attack lasting several days.
The 72-year-old activist experienced uncontrollable shaking and overwhelming anxiety, reminiscent of childhood trauma she endured 66 years earlier. This visceral reaction underscores how deeply sexual violence becomes embedded in survivors' bodies and psyches, regardless of time passed or healing work undertaken.
The Cycle of Abuse and Exploitation
Giuffre's story reveals a devastating pattern of repeated victimisation. After suffering childhood rape by her father and his associates, she endured years of abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The trafficking to powerful, sadistic men created what V describes as a stamp of brokenness that attracts further exploitation.
V challenges persistent misconceptions about why victims don't leave abusive situations. She explains that rape destroys self-agency and the belief that one's body is worth saving. Survivors become walking ghosts in a permanent fog, essentially dehumanised objects no longer capable of self-protection.
Systemic Failures and the $200bn Trafficking Industry
The activist highlights how Epstein and Maxwell specifically targeted vulnerable young women, assessing their degree of brokenness and exploitability. This occurs within a global sex trafficking industry valued at $200 billion, which V characterises as part of a scaffolding of rape underpinning society.
Despite survivors bravely coming forward, they frequently face gaslighting, threats, and disbelief. V points to concerning protection of international rings of powerful men associated with rape and paedophilia, creating environments where underground sex trafficking networks continue to operate with impunity.
Virginia Giuffre's own words reveal the enduring struggle: I'm learning to accept that sometimes I will simply not be okay. That is the process of serious trauma. Tragically, what she described as an emotional timebomb ultimately claimed her life.
V concludes with an urgent warning about another impending explosion - the alchemized rage of millions of survivors who cannot continue living with this torturous injustice. Without proper accountability and justice for Epstein's victims, this collective trauma threatens to detonate outward with unprecedented force.
