The Epstein files are not going away. And for good reason. This case gets to the heart of our deep knowledge that some people with power, privilege, and money are able to get away with doing bad and harmful things. I haven’t previously written about the Epstein files from my professional perspective as a researcher of the sex trades, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. But three big points related to the Epstein files come up in my research again and again: 1. Epstein’s trafficking is a specific business model (one among many); 2. This model is present across income categories and communities. 3. To prevent trafficking, we must listen to survivors as experts!
What do I mean when I call the trafficking a “business model”?
What do I mean when I call the trafficking a “business model”? Well, it is an organized enterprise designed to make money (and/or gain influence and leverage) and evade detection. In past research, we called the Epstein model a closed sex-buyer network. In this business model, the trafficker builds a network of sex buyers who know each other.
The fact that everyone knows each other provides built-in protection for the trafficker through mutually known complicity with the sex buyers. The buyer and other bystanders would have to “out” themselves to report the trafficking. The main trafficker also has other people in the “business” who work with the trafficker to obtain, force, coerce, and threaten people to provide sex and sexual activity. In the Epstein case, we know Ghislaine Maxwell functioned in this role. But I bet there are many more people who did this kind of stuff. There is usually a layer of people in the trafficking operation who also do mundane tasks like driving, cleaning, scheduling, etc. who know what is going on. They are complicit and, therefore, also silenced.
In addition to silencing the buyers and the bystanders, a closed sex-buyer network provides built-in fear for victim/survivors who see the buyers and the reputation of the traffickers and don’t think they would be believed. And that dynamic for sure played out with the Epstein case over many years. And there is, of course, violence and threats against victims and their families, too. So, the fear is real. Exacerbating that fear is the fact that the legal system often does not support victim/survivors.
Epstein is not a singular monster. This type of business model is at play all over the US and at all income levels. Some of these operations are huge and sprawling (like Epstein’s). Others are just a few men and function more like a small club. But the underlying operating principles are the same. There are other trafficking business models too. But the closed sex-buyer network business model is a particularly tough business model to crack open. Trafficking flourishes in silence, and I’ve laid out several ways that this model evades detection through built-in complicity for everyone involved and fear from victims.
All of this makes it essential for us to believe survivors. In one of my studies, we learned about this model because one victim was arrested by the police for prostitution (which shouldn’t have happened, but that is another story). They confiscated her phone and identified her trafficker. They then used his phone to identify a bunch of buyers the trafficker cultivated who knew each other and what they had each done.
Accountability breaks the silence! When one trafficker’s business is exposed and goes down, it paves the way for other victims to be believed. Had the system listened to all those survivors in the Epstein case, that would’ve led to earlier accountability and maybe fewer victims. There is so much more to say about how our society just needs to care about and support victims. And we just need to care about and support people in general. Caring for people is actually one of the best ways to prevent sexual exploitation and trafficking. But we’ll have to address that another time.