Queen Camilla defies ‘culture of silence’ whilst silent about Epstein

Queen Camilla has sent a message to survivors of sexual abuse to mark International Women’s Day to address the ‘culture of silence’ around abuse. This striking message comes weeks after her disgraced brother-in-law Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested following revelations in the Epstein Files.

It has previously been reported that Camilla played a key role in sealing Andrew’s fate as she feared his ties to an elite sex ring might demolish her work in violence against women and girls. However, refusing to fully acknowledge the seriousness of the Epstein files and failing to use her influential platform to demand justice for the victims does not reflect well on someone who claims to advocate against violence toward women and girls.

Nevertheless, it appears Camilla is trying to repair the damage done to public trust. Although, her advocacy could go a lot further and potentially make an actual difference for victims and survivors of abuse inflicted by powerful men.

In her speech, Camilla said:

To every survivor of every kind of violence, many of whom have not been able to tell their stories or who have not been believed, please know that you are not alone. We stand with you and alongside you, today and every day, in solidarity, sorrow and sympathy.

We hope this is more than dishing out empty platitudes, which the Royal Family are renowned for.

If you truly care, use your pedestal, queen Camilla

The Epstein Files have revealed a deeply sinister and horrifying web of abuse against young girls inflicted by powerful men. A picture even surfaced of the disgraced ‘prince’ playing with a toddler, passing a ball shaped like a female breast. This has sparked terror across British society, especially women. As Camilla said in her speech, women often live in silence with their trauma as society does not actually protect the vulnerable. Instead, it only protects the powerful.

This has bred a culture of silence around the abuse that powerful men perpetrate. Grooming gangs rightly resulted in disgust and condemnation, with a dogged insistence that all involved be held to the full weight of the law. After all, we apparently care about our women and girls in Western society.

Why do investigations and society consistently fail to hold elite networks of powerful white men accountable?

Referring to her own experience of abuse, Camilla spoke to this silence in her speech, saying:

Every woman has a story. And these stories must be told. Because when we live in a culture of silence, we empower violence against women and girls. It is for this reason that, for 15 years, WOW has been sharing women’s experiences through their festivals, inspiring thousands of people across six continents to take action.

It should not be overlooked that authorities arrested Andrew on suspicion of misconduct in public office, not on suspicion of sexually abusing minors. If Camilla genuinely cared about victims, she would ensure that investigators fully examine all suspects tied to Epstein and hold them accountable for their actions.

However, that demand was notably absent from her speech.

Education: not accountability for suspected elite abusers

Instead, queen Camilla pointed to sexual abuse being ‘everyone’s problem’ stating that it is “unjust and untrue” to label this as a “woman problem”. She says that “this scourge” can be “eradicated for good” if all citizens take responsibility to tackle the root cause of rising misogyny and abuse amongst men and boys.

Pointing to schools and playgrounds, she says that boys:

should be taught to manage and to express their feelings healthily.

and:

all children must learn what constitutes consent – and what is assault.

Yet, the queen’s remarks appear to imply that men and boys who commit abuse lack guidance rather than responsibility. She does this by implying that men and boys who commit abuse have not learned the rules or how to regulate their emotions. This framing may deeply trigger many victims, because perpetrators often reinforce the ‘culture of silence’ by claiming they could not control their behaviour, while victims sometimes feel pressured to rationalise their trauma as something they must simply endure.

Once again, victims experience a deep sense of injustice, and society undermines women’s right to anger. To make matters worse, people place the burden on these victims to teach the next generation how not to repeat the abuses of the past. Ordinary people will have to fix the attitude problem in men and boys; powerful women clearly will do precious little.

Excuses for men; par for the course for women and girls

Furthermore, this speech came after a meeting with Gisèle Pelicot, whose memoire of a decade of sexual abuse left queen Camilla ‘speechless’. Nonetheless, it’s striking that Pelicot chose to sacrifice her privacy and comfort where the queen holds back.

Pelicot showed tremendous courage in pursuing transparent justice against the web of abusers orchestrated by her husband. Contrary to the Queen, she didn’t choose to take preventative action through educating children to remedy her trauma, she pursued accountability for abusive men. Don’t get us wrong, education is critical, but so too is bringing offenders to justice.

We wrote:

However, the hypocrisy at play is difficult to ignore. Camilla has made little effort to centre the victims connected to the so-called Epstein files or to address the role powerful men played in perpetrating such traumatic abuse against young girls and women. Perhaps she will draw inspiration from the courage of Gisèle Pelicot and begin speaking truth to powerful men while prioritising the suffering of their victims.

After all, both cases involve networks of men who believed they had the right to do whatever they wanted to their victims. The case draws clear parallels with the thousands of pages connected to the Epstein network of elites, which included her brother-in-law, the disgraced former prince Andrew.

Advertisement

We can only hope that Camilla, who has expressed concern about the silence surrounding violence against women and girls, goes further in her advocacy. Victims and survivors deserve to see justice, rather than being told once again that “he couldn’t help it”.

Featured image via the Canary