Strawser | Justice for the survivors of the Epstein class and beyond

Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.

The first article I ever wrote for The Daily was a protest where over 200 members of the Stanford community called on the University to do better against sexual violence on campus. My experience as a survivor is inseparable from how I understand my bisexuality and masculinity. One of my closest friends, thanks to whom I have learned so much about myself and the world, is herself a survivor. To say that sexual violence and the broader societal questions it raises are near and dear to my heart would be the understatement of the century.

This is the lens through which I view the last few months of new documents exposing more of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s correspondence. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak M.S. ’79 has business and intelligence ties to Epstein. Palantir co-founder and board chairman Peter Thiel ’89 J.D. ’92 received taxation advice and financial assistance, with millions of dollars on the line, from Epstein. Former Harvard president Lawrence Summers sought Epstein’s advice on pursuing a female student he was in a position of authority over. Even U.S. President Donald Trump explicitly bonded with Epstein over their shared, predatory interests in women and girls. 

This is what commentators and politicians of conscience have dubbed “the Epstein class.” Some of the most powerful figures in politics, academia and technology have, across partisan and geographic lines, benefited from their connections to Epstein for decades. Many continued to do so even after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting sex from young girls. Pressure on the federal government to release the names of this vast network of abusers, accomplices and broader associates went nowhere for decades.

Even today, decades after Epstein found his first victim, Trump is violating the federal law that mandated a full release of the files on Epstein by Dec. 19. If the Trump administration concealing information on potential Epstein defenders, releasing underage victims’ nude photographs and refusing to rule out a pardon for Epstein’s top co-conspirator are any indication, it is that the Epstein victims — not the Epstein class — are the ones suffering today.

At best, these elites have avoided the scrutiny and accountability they deserve for personally benefiting from a man that sexually abused over 1,000 women and girls — some as young as 13 years old. At worst, these elites engaged in the abuse themselves. I cannot view this as anything short of a depraved cabal of pedophiles and pedophile beneficiaries. The moral bankruptcy of our institutions is underscored by the fact that then-President George W. Bush could have pursued a life sentence for Epstein’s sexual crimes against underage girls but instead, behind victims’ backs, gave him a 13-month sentence and immunized his co-conspirators. 

The earliest-known Epstein victim dates back to 1994, and Epstein died in federal prison in 2019 before he could be convicted of then-freshly unsealed sex trafficking charges. This means that, from presidents Bill Clinton to Donald Trump, every administration failed these women and girls. Democratic and Republican administrations alike put the insulation of Epstein and his network before victims and their fight for justice, transparency and closure.

As we learn more about the decades-long miscarriage of justice that is now in the hands of a president with his own history of sexual violence and accusations of predatory behavior, we must not lose sight of what this means for the Stanford community. 

Numerous Stanford affiliates and alumni are themselves tied to the Epstein network. Dean of Humanities and Sciences Debra Satz has been accused of laughing at a female student who reported sexual harassment from a professor, and the University has a record of consistently failing to ensure justice for campus survivors. This puts women’s prevalent experiences of nonconsensual sexual treatment and contact on campus into perspective. The example of our affiliates and alumni, combined with the fundamentally anti-survivor framework of Stanford’s leadership that goes back years, shames survivors into believing that they are alone, that they were in the wrong and that staying silent is the only worthwhile solution. Stanford can and should do better.

I look to the Epstein survivors succeeding in their advocacy before Congress — amidst death threats and White House smears — to pass a law mandating a release of the Department of Justice’s files on the Epstein network as the profile of courage we need to emulate in pushing for reforms. 

The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Education (SHARE) Title IX Office should lift its 11-hour ceiling on free legal aid, and the University should empower SHARE to the point of letting it require — not merely “facilitate” — academic and housing accommodations for survivors. Doing so would give survivors the time and personal bandwidth to handle and process their cases better. 

Provost Jenny Martinez, as the chief budget officer of the University, must guarantee SHARE enough funding and staffing for its three-to-four-month timeline to become a reality for as many survivors as possible. Doing so would prevent more instances of cases taking years to resolve and lessen their impacts on survivors’ academic trajectories.

University president Jonathan Levin ’94 should hire a general counsel with an unwavering commitment to hire and retain seasoned, trauma-informed attorneys. Doing so would connect survivors with the legal advocates necessary to help them understand their options and arrive at the outcomes that are best for them. 

These reforms are more than achievable by the University. They would send the message to campus survivors that the institutional betrayal they have long experienced is becoming a thing of the past. The University would be setting the example for our peer institutions to follow. Such a strong show of support for campus survivors would remind the survivors of the Epstein class that their painful, traumatizing advocacy is ushering in a wave of justice taking our nation by storm.

As students, we must also be on the side of justice for the survivors of the Epstein class and beyond. We must withhold our money and labor from companies like Tesla and Palantir, whose senior leaders have verifiable associations to Epstein himself. 

We must use every public venue of campus decision making possible, from Faculty Senate meetings to town halls with university leadership, to demand institutional condemnations of every Stanford affiliate tied to the Epstein class. 

We must be so thorough as to completely sever ties with the men in our lives who have done so much as, whether through open laughter or silent complacency, enabled the jokes that dehumanize women and girls for their bodies.

The Epstein class has been able to retain its wealth, privilege and respect in society for far too long. Not even the supposedly innocuous jokes about women and girls’ bodies should escape scrutiny. By bridging together the power of our students and university officials, we can lead by example on collective action for every survivor at Stanford and beyond.

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