Epstein victims mistreted by media claims Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa has called out the media for the way it’s reporting on the Epstein Files and completely disregarding the feelings of the victims.

The singer was interviewing the author Roxanne Gay on her podcast Service 95 Book Club. The Women’s Day episode specifically covered misogyny in society and the media. This included many topics, but especially how victims are talked about and treated.

The conversation inevitably turned to the Epstein files and the way his victims were being treated.

Lipa said:

The way that the crimes have been reported, and the language that’s been used, has been doing such a disservice to all the victims.

I keep thinking about all the stories that talk about the underage girls and the sex parties, rather than writing about the victims that were children who were trafficked

She continued:

It’s putting everything under some kind of veil to protect — I don’t know who, the reader — or trying to mask what is happening.

It’s so interesting how the media takes and twists things, even in the darkest hour

Epstein’s victims erased for a good story

This is something The Canary has covered extensively. Our journalist Maddison Wheeldon called out how the media circus around the January release of the files erased the experiences of victims and survivors.

Writing about how the Wheeldon wrote thousands of documents had to be removed by the Department of Justice after they compromised the identities of the victims, Wheeldon said:

The mainstream media circus around the release of the files is conveniently diminishing both the horror and scrutiny of these atrocious crimes, as well as the accountability of the powerful figures responsible for them.

One thing is clear. The release of the Epstein files was certainly not to protect the victims and survivors of Epstein’s depraved network. The women and girls who bore the brunt of these atrocities have been sidelined even in the official reveal of their experiences.

Victims later claimed that the DoJ’s Pam Bondi intentionally un-redacted their names to intimidate them into silence.

Focus needs to be brought back to the victims

Meanwhile, journalist Vannessa Viljoen highlighted how racialised Epstein’s trafficking was. She wrote:

Rabid media coverage of the Epstein files has breathlessly focused on political gossip at the expense of centring victims and survivors. As such, public discussion of elite sexual abuse often gravitates towards spectacle: powerful men, hidden networks and institutional failure. Of course, coverage from mainstream media is complicit in upholding power structures that decide who counts as a victim – and who doesn’t.

Instead, the newly released Epstein files point to an uncomfortable reality. It has been noted from FBI interview records and grand jury testimony that Epstein’s “preference was short, little, white girls.” Crucially, Epstein’s operation did not rely on chance or opportunism. Instead, Epstein paid girls to recruit other minors and enforced his preferences through discipline and reward. When recruiters failed to comply, the system reprimanded them. In practice, race did not sit in the background. Rather, it structured how the trafficking itself operated.

All throughout this, we’ve seen the focus around ‘scandals’ involving Peter Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten and Donald Trump. But there’s been very little focus on the actual victims who have had to live with the abuse they endured for the rest of their lives.

It must be absolutely heartbreaking to see your most feared memories play out on the worlds stage, and the focus once again being on the powerful men who used their power over your body.

It’s time the media took a long, hard look at itself, stopped seeing pound signs and thought about the real victims.

Featured image via the Canary