By Dr. Ghassan Shahrour
The Epstein case has been dissected endlessly — the names, the networks, the island, the conspiracy theories. The world has memorized the scandal. Yet almost no one can name the journalist whose work reopened the case, or the survivors and families whose courage made justice possible. This silence is not a coincidence. It is a cultural failure — a fourth betrayal that leaves children everywhere more vulnerable.
The first three betrayals are well known: institutions that protected a predator, a legal system that misled victims, and a society that tolerated the abuse of children when wealth and power were involved. But the fourth betrayal is quieter and more corrosive. It is the public’s fascination with scandal over justice, and the media’s willingness to feed that appetite. It is the collective choice to glorify the powerful figures orbiting the case while ignoring the people who fought for truth.
This imbalance is visible in every metric of public attention. Searches for the “Epstein list” surged globally, while searches for Julie K. Brown — the investigative journalist whose reporting exposed the illegal 2008 plea deal — barely registered. Headlines celebrated the spectacle of elite names, but gave only passing mention to the year‑long investigation that located victims, reconstructed evidence, and forced the justice system to act. Even after a federal judge ruled that prosecutors had violated the victims’ rights, the story remained framed around the scandal, not the accountability.
This is not simply a media problem. It is a cultural distortion. Scandal is easy to consume; justice is hard to sustain. Scandal entertains; justice demands responsibility. Scandal centers the abuser; justice centers the abused. When society rewards the spectacle, it sends a dangerous message: that the labor of protecting children is less worthy of attention than the crimes committed against them.
But the fourth betrayal extends beyond journalism. It also erases the courage of survivors and their families — the people who refused silence even when institutions failed them. Many of Epstein’s victims came forward as teenagers, without legal support, without public sympathy, and often against the wishes of adults who feared retaliation. Some families stood by their daughters with extraordinary strength, encouraging them to speak, to testify, to reclaim their dignity. Their courage is not a footnote; it is the foundation of every step toward justice.
Research consistently shows that when survivors see others speak out, they are more likely to report abuse. When families support their children, disclosure becomes possible. When society honors these acts of courage, future victims gain the confidence to defend themselves. Yet in the global conversation about Epstein, these voices were overshadowed by the gravitational pull of scandal. The very people who made justice possible were pushed to the margins of public memory.
This is where public media must be held to account. Any outlet that treats child exploitation as entertainment — that prioritizes clicks over truth, spectacle over justice, scandal over survivors — participates in the fourth betrayal. When media institutions fail to highlight the protectors, they weaken the ecosystem that future victims depend on. They do not merely misinform the public; they jeopardize the rights and safety of children.
From the my perspective of human security, this is not merely a story about a crime or a scandal, but about whether our culture chooses to protect children or protect power.
If we want a world where children are safer, we must rebalance the ethics of attention. We must honor the journalist who pursued the truth when institutions retreated. We must recognize the survivors who spoke when silence was safer. We must celebrate the families who stood with their children against power. Justice is not only a legal process; it is a cultural choice. And the next child who suffers will depend on whether we choose scandal — or choose to stand with those who defend them.
Dr. Ghassan Shahrour, Coordinator of Arab Human Security Network, is a medical doctor, prolific writer, and human rights advocate specializing in health, disability, disarmament, and human security.
22 February 2026
Source: countercurrents.org