Several women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein came together to film an ad demanding that Congress release all files related to the accused sex trafficker.
“This is a call to action,” one of the women, Danielle Bensky, told NBC News on Sunday. “As long as we are Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell survivors, we also support so many victims of sexual and domestic violence.”
PSAcreated by World Without Exploitation, directs the public to a link to send automated letters of support to congressional leaders. It comes ahead of a long-awaited House vote on Tuesday to release the files.
“A lot of people look at our stories and want to find a way to take a stand, but they don’t quite know how,” Benski said. “We really want to tell people that you can go out and do it for yourself and be part of what is starting to really feel like a movement in some ways.”
In the video, several women hold up photographs of their younger selves at the age when they met Epstein, the prominent late financier who lived in wealthy and politically connected circles.
“There are about a thousand of us,” the woman says in the video. “It's time to bring the secrets out of the shadows.”
Annie Farmer, an Epstein survivor whose sister Maria Farmer was the first woman to file a criminal case against Epstein, in 1996, stressed that the release of the files was not a political issue, but an issue that had been buried for too long.
“Please remember that these crimes were committed against real people, real individuals. This is not a political issue. This has been going on for decades,” Annie Farmer said. “My sister Maria Farmer reported this during the Clinton administration, right? Mistakes were made in this matter during the Bush administration. So many things have happened over the decades that in this case were failures of law enforcement.
“This is not bias. We ask you to support us now and release all files,” she continued.
Benski said she was 17 and an aspiring ballerina in 2004 when Epstein raped her in his Manhattan mansion.
“If you look at how long this has been going on, we have to do something about it. And it really isn't political. It was never political for us,” she said.
Both women were among a group of survivors who wrote a letter thanking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for supporting efforts to release Epstein's files to dramatic break with her party line.
Women said the tone of the emails treasure trove of Epstein-related documents The release last week by lawmakers on the House Oversight and Reform Committee did not shock them and they hope it signals a new era of transparency.
“I think the type of misogyny and classism and the tone of some of these letters that really bothered people was something that we were all very aware was part of this group and these types of conversations,” Farmer said. “I think it was actually nice to see other people look at this world and be disgusted by it.”
Epstein committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his accomplice, was convicted in 2022 on federal sex trafficking charges and is reportedly seeking a reduced prison sentence.
Although survivors have repeatedly stressed that Epstein's case should not be politicized, it has become a political lightning rod on Capitol Hill.
President Donald Trump, who was mentioned in some of Epstein's published emailsled The Justice Department on Friday is investigating Epstein's involvement with financial institutions and political figures. targeting Democrats. Trump denies any involvement in Epstein's crimes.
Janine Edulji, Hayley Walker And Jennifer O'Neill contributed.
