Don’t lose sight of what matters from the Prince Andrew interview – Epstein’s victims

Whatever your opinion on either of these men, this really should have been an important moment for the movement to shut down sexual violence

Lizzy Dening
Sunday 17 November 2019 13:39 GMT
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Prince Andrew claims that he was at Pizza Express on the day his accuser says she had sex with him

Pizzas, sweating, men of honour. It’s hard to think of a more meme-able TV moment than last night’s and, of course, Twitter was alight with hilarious hot takes within minutes of Emily Maitlis’s interview with Prince Andrew. But in the midst of the absurdity, it’s important that we don’t neglect the true story at the heart of it all – the fact that women and girls were openly abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

While perhaps everyone agrees that the interview was a mistake from a Royal family PR perspective, it was also a sadly wasted opportunity for the Duke to express concern or support for survivors of abuse.

The most tone-deaf part of the whole interview (which is saying something) was that, given the chance for any additional comments, the Duke chose to focus on the effects the accusations have had on him and his family, rather than the lives of ordinary women and children thrown into chaos at the hands of his friend.

And this has been one of the problems of the #MeToo movement as a whole. While it’s been deeply encouraging to have big names starting to be held accountable for their behaviour after years of silence, so much of the reporting has focused on the protagonists themselves.

Some of this – questions such as “how was Weinstein able to get away with it for so long?” – is of course entirely valid, but it does mean that the stories of survivors often get pushed to the sidelines. And, as we’ve seen from the plummeting conviction rates for rape in the UK, and funding difficulties for many (if not all) rape crisis centres, increased awareness of high profile sexual violence hasn’t so far led to positive change for survivors.

That’s formed part of my motivation for establishing Survivor Stories – a website featuring interviews with survivors of sexual violence in their own words. Those who have been featured so far have all told me that sharing their story has been an empowering experience, especially after many of them have struggled to have their say in a court room for various reasons.

Many survivors – fearful of anything from repercussions on their career and family life to not being believed or falling victim to trolls – choose to remain anonymous (which of course is also their legal right during court cases). But this doesn’t make their stories any less credible than those of named survivors such as (the incredibly brave) Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Maitlis did her best to keep the interview focused on the women behind the story. Questions were repeatedly brought back to Roberts Giuffre’s claims, with allusions to Epstein’s other offences, despite the Duke’s unwillingness to focus on his possible connections with her.

Whatever your opinion of Prince Andrew, or indeed Epstein, there’s no doubt that last night was an important moment for the movement to shut down sexual violence. But let’s not hide behind hilarity. When the dust settles and we’ve run out of Pizza Express jokes, let’s make sure the legacy of Roberts Giuffre and the other trafficked women and girls leads to society doing a better job of listening to survivors and believing their stories.

For help and support please visit rapecrisis.org.uk

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