Over 1,000 victims and over 1,000 stories.

When talking about the track record of late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it is nothing but a grim account of pain, secrecy and the people who decided that power mattered more than protecting women and children.

For months, there has been an intensifying drive to release the Epstein files; whether it was from elected officials or on social media, there has been a collective effort for the retrieval of hidden information. Still, we have to ask the uncomfortable question: Whose interests does this push for the release of information actually serve? The hunt for powerful names has overshadowed the trauma of the people harmed, turning survivors’ pain into background noise instead of front-page reality. We cannot accept this.

Recent headlines focus solely on the celebrity connections and sensational theories surrounding the case rather than directly shedding light on the long-term harm that was inflicted on real women.

More than 20,000 emails, released on Nov. 12, include Epstein’s assertions that President Donald Trump was aware of the abuse and spent time at Epstein’s house with a victim. Trump, however, has repeatedly denied knowing about any criminal conduct, telling reporters in July 2019 that he “had no idea.” Since, the media has turned these revelations into a political spectacle about powerful names, rather than focusing on the people who endured real harm at the hands of Epstein. Justice for survivors has been obscured by gossip, speculation and partisan counterstrikes.

Prior to the House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Nov. 18, a group of women victimized by Epstein spoke out at the U.S. Capitol. Survivor Haley Robson spoke directly to the president, saying she “can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is. I am traumatized. I am not stupid.”

On Nov. 17, during a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump stated that the Republicans had “nothing to do with Epstein, the Democrats do. All I want is for people to recognize the great job that I’ve done.” In an effort to deflect scrutiny, he has repeatedly accused Democrats of resurfacing the Epstein case, turning a serious matter of abuse and accountability into a political blame game.

“None of us here signed up for this political warfare. We never asked to be dragged into battles between people who never protected us in the first place,” survivor Wendy Avis said ahead of the House vote. “We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the politics that swirl around it.”

Lost in the chaos are the voices of survivors, many who were teenagers at the time of the abuse — some as young as 14 years old. Their experiences were ignored and dismissed, when they should have been the center of every conversation about the case.

The accountability needed is not only about releasing the documents, but about acknowledging the way the system failed these victims and how it allowed Epstein to operate and get away with these brutal acts for years. These victims were let down repeatedly, not only by one man, but by people who should have protected them and spoke up for them.

The hardest truth is that society only pays attention when a scandal involves the wealthy and powerful. Real justice for these victims means centering the stories of those who were harmed, not the surrounding people who may have been a part of it. The survivors have carried the weight of this for far too long.

The least we, as society and journalists, can do is finally give them the focus, dignity and accountability they were denied.