Virginia Giuffre, prominent Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse survivor and accuser of Prince Andrew, has died

Virginia Giuffre, an outspoken survivor of the sex crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and a well-known accuser of Britain’s Prince Andrew, has died by suicide, her family said in a statement. In a heartfelt statement, her family confirmed Virginia died on her farm in Western Australia. Emergency services were called to her home near the city of Perth on Friday night and found her unresponsive, local police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts at first aid. Her death is not being treated as suspicious, authorities have said.

Her family described their deep sadness, saying that Virginia had become “a victim of suicide” after suffering from a lifetime of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. They wrote that she was the fiercest warrior in the war against sexual abuse, a force of hope and light to survivors around the globe. But, the family added, the deep cost of what she had gone through ultimately became too great for her to bear.

Virginia Giuffre had become an international symbol of courage for standing up to the horrors of which she’d been victimized at the hands of Epstein and others. The mother of three, was one of the first to publicly claim that Epstein had trafficked her for sex when she was a teenager. Her accusations targeted Prince Andrew in particular, asserting that Epstein coerced her to have sex with the British royal when she was only 17, a time when she was under the age of consent in the U.S. She also claimed that Prince Andrew knew she was a minor at the time. Prince Andrew has always vehemently denied the allegations.

Giuffre’s allegations only stoked the flames of intrigue surrounding Epstein’s criminal enterprise and his powerful associates. Epstein was charged in July 2019 with sex trafficking of minors, to which he pleaded not guilty. But a month later, Epstein was discovered dead in a suicide in a jail cell in New York City, sparking a fury of public outrage and conspiracy theories about his death.

Epstein’s crimes date back years. From 2002 to 2005, he was accused of running a ring of underage girls he sexually abused at his homes in New York and Florida. Before the 2019 charges, Epstein had previous problems with justice in 2008 when he pleaded guilty to lesser state prostitution charges in a deal involving a 14-year-old girl. The resulting plea deal — which was widely denounced as overly lenient — allowed him to spend just 13 months in a county jail with extensive work release privileges.

Legal wrangling by Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers laid bare even more about the depth of Epstein’s network and the extent to which he used his vast wealth to escape culpability. A settlement agreement from 2009 that was unsealed in 2022 appeared to show that Epstein had paid Giuffre $500,000 to settle suit without admitting to having done anything wrong.

Allegations of Giuffre were not limited to Epstein alone, but to other powerful men as well. Her lawsuit against Prince Andrew, which she filed in 2021, produced a public scandal. While Prince Andrew denied all claims, he quietly settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount outside of the court in earlt 2022. The settlement was not an admission of guilt, but it dealt a crushing blow to his public standing and prompted him to step back from royal duties.

Outside of Epstein, the public has also been intrigued by the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate. Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and accused of aiding Epstein’s alleged abuse of girls. She was found guilty in 2021 of multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Virginia Giuffre, who was not one of the women who testified against Maxwell, was among a number of Epstein accusers whose advocacy and public presence helped fuel what became a public reckoning with those who had enabled Epstein’s crimes.

Giuffre dedicated her life to shining a light on sex trafficking and abuse, and used her voice to fight for survivors around the globe. She became an inspiring and powerful voice for survivors, however, despite experiencing tremendous personal attacks and public criticism, speaking candidly about her ordeals.

Her heartbreaking death is another sad reminder of the devastating legacy of sexual abuse and ongoing difficulties many survivors endure. We sit here in our grief 12 days post-shooting and already injustices being done, and we have a gunman behind bars,” Bryan said, adding that we must also support the grieving the long-term care, and community support. Virginia Giuffre’s story, her courage and her pursuit of justice will never be erased.

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide or any other mental health crisis, assistance is available. In the United States, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Outside the US, the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide provide resources and crisis support for those in need.