Virginia Giuffre’s accusation of sexual abuse by the senior British royal was settled out of court in 2022
Virginia Giuffre, a prominent survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring and a leading advocate for victims of sexual abuse, has died by suicide at the age of 41, her family said in a statement to NBC News on Friday.
Giuffre passed away at her farm in Neergabby, Western Australia, where she had been living with her husband and three children since 2019.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia. She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,” her family told NBC News.
They described her as “a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking” and noted that “the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Giuffre was instrumental in bringing global attention to Epstein’s abuse network. She provided crucial information to law enforcement that contributed to the conviction of Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
She also filed a high-profile civil lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew, alleging he sexually abused her when she was 17. The case was settled out of court in 2022, with Prince Andrew denying the allegations.
Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was officially ruled a suicide, though it has remained the subject of intense public scrutiny and widespread speculation given the high-profile figures linked to his case.
Court documents unsealed last year also revealed a possible link between Giuffre and Ruslana Korshunova, a Kazakh-Russian model who jumped to her death from her Manhattan apartment in 2008. Korshunova had reportedly flown on Epstein’s private jet to his private island, Little St. James, two years before her death. Following Korshunova’s death, Giuffre received an email from her attorney inquiring whether she knew the young model.
In March, Giuffre revealed on Instagram that she had been involved in a car accident with a school bus and was suffering from renal failure. She stated that doctors had given her “four days to live” and shared a photo of herself with visible bruises. Her family later clarified that she had been hospitalized and was receiving medical care.
Her brother, Danny Wilson, told NBC News that she had been in “real physical pain” and “suffered from renal failure,” but that “the mental pain was worse.”
Giuffre’s attorney, Sigrid McCawley, described her as “a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims,” while her representative, Dini von Mueffling, said, “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honor to know.”