On Friday, the Department of Justice released millions more documents held in cases relating to Jeffrey Epstein, AKA the "Epstein Files." The files are full of allegations and outright admissions of horrific behavior by elites of the billionaire and political class. However, at this point it seems consequences are unlikely beyond a few days of media headlines about increased "scrutiny." Amidst all the speculation, gossip, and political jockeying by both sides to score points: almost all public discourse around Epstein and his relationships with powerful elites neglects the survivors at the center of those documents.

Our guests this week published a piece last month at Truthout.org, “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” It draws on their experience in abolitionist and sex worker justice movements to explore how the Left can reclaim space long ceded to the Right’s “law and order” messaging with a block-and-build strategy rooted in economic, racial, and gender justice that centers survivors while creating the social conditions to address harm and even prevent it in the first place.

Chanelle Gallant is the co-author of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice.

Shannon Perez-Darby is co-editor of the anthology How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action.

Additional Resources

Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral on Instagram
"Numerous journalists targeted in attack via Signal Messenger" at Netzpolitik.org

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Preventing Another Epstein w/ Shannon Perez-Darby and Chanelle Gallant