After a lifetime of trauma and fear, Sarah Ransome is ready to make her story heard.
In 2006, at the age of 22, Ransome was recruited into what is now regarded as one of the most high-profile sex trafficking rings in history, headed by the late billionaire financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and orchestrated by his longtime confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell. For nearly a year, Ransome was subjected to regular mental and physical abuse by the pair including starvation, body shaming, and rape.*
Today, Ransome is releasing her memoir, Silenced No More: Surviving My Journey to Hell and Back, which not only details the depravity she suffered at the hands of the co-conspirators but reveals the lifelong exploitation that led her to their doorstep. Raised by her mother, who struggled with alcohol addiction, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ransome was first raped at age 11 by one of her mother’s lovers and again at 14 by a teenager from a wealthy family. She eventually developed her own codependency on alcohol and endured numerous abusive relationships, all while navigating financial struggles. So when she was approached by a young woman in a club who told her a billionaire philanthropist friend would be glad to help her apply to and pay for her dream school, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Ransome saw it as her ticket to a new life.
With Maxwell currently on trial in what’s widely viewed as a proxy for the legal reckoning Epstein never received, Ransome, who will not be taking the stand, is releasing her own testimony at an especially crucial moment.
Last week over the phone, BAZAAR.com spoke to Ransome about Maxwell’s ultimate betrayal of womanhood, why there is no such thing as the perfect victim, and what true justice looks like for survivors of sexual violence.
You are releasing your memoir at an incredibly pivotal time as Ghislaine Maxwell is currently on trial. Did you plan for the release of your book to coincide with her trial?
I think it's important that people really understand and get to know the real Ghislaine, because for decades, she's evaded justice and claimed to be a victim, claimed to be innocent. I feel like I've been silent for so long, and the book just sort of coincided [with her trial]. I think that people really need to understand what happened to myself and hundreds of other women, because I feel that sometimes there's only one narrative.
I'm also really sick and tired of the victim shaming and blaming. When I came forward, I was trolled on the Internet. I found it extraordinary that people always side with a rapist instead of the victim. There's no such thing as a perfect victim. No matter what bad choices a survivor has made in their life, it doesn't mean that they are free to be raped. Rape is one of the most underreported crimes, because women feel like they won't be believed. That's why I felt it was really important to tell my story, especially during this time. If I can just encourage survivors to come forward and not feel ashamed, then my job here is done.
As you mentioned, there are certain narratives used over and over in court against survivors of sexual violence, including that they are just in it for money, that it's an act, or that there are inconsistencies in their memories. We're seeing that play out in real time in the Maxwell trial—
In Ghislaine’s case, the defense is using the same old arguments. I've seen it in almost every sex abuse case whereby the actual victim is blamed. It's horrific. That is why my book is powerful, because it doesn't matter if Jane Doe did drugs. Who cares? She was raped as a minor. That whole memory argument, I find it extraordinary, because you've got the defense going on about memories and facts. Well, the same could be very well applied to Ghislaine, who all of a sudden has amnesia and doesn't remember when she forced me into Jeffrey's room to be violently raped. And Ghislaine doesn't remember me looking at her, and her smiling with this evil smile. She is a sadistic woman. She enjoyed inflicting pain.
Explain to me why every single survivor that has come forward―even though we've never spoken to each other, even though we don't know each other, even though we are from different decades—tell me why every single story is the same?
And this whole argument that we're all gold diggers. When I first started my litigation in 2016, it was made very clear to me that there was no money on the table. There was no guarantee I was going to get a settlement. I got that settlement because I proved that I was trafficked and raped every day for sometimes three days.
These girls testifying, they're not doing it because they were promised a big fat paycheck by the FBI. There's no promise of money for them. They are there, like me and every other survivor, trying to get Ghislaine, a sadistic, sick woman off the street so she can no longer hurt anybody else.
A through line in your book is your desire to be heard and wanting people to not only listen to your accounts of sexual violence, but also to believe them. Is your memoir a way of making your voice heard on your own terms?
I've been silent for so many years. You must understand, I didn't come forward for a long time, because Jeffrey told me that he was going to murder me and kill my family if I went to the authorities or told anybody. That was reinforced by Ghislaine. What people don't understand is, when I did come forward in 2016, I actually went into hiding in Spain. I didn't speak one word of English for two years, except to Peter, my partner. And I have evidence that Jeffrey was looking for me during my litigation in 2017. He tracked me down in Barcelona.
I'm tired of living in fear. And that is why I had to write my memoir, because when you live like that and fear constantly, it does something to you. It alters your soul. And I don't want any other survivor to ever feel that they are silenced. And for me, writing the book was incredibly cathartic, because I learned a lot about myself. The book was also about me coming to terms with and taking accountability and responsibility for my mistakes, because I have made so many bad choices in my life. My goodness. In writing the book, I've finally forgiven myself. I do feel that in order to break a cycle, you need to face your demons first.
Like you mentioned, the fear of not being believed is why so many victims of sexual abuse do not come forward. You experienced that firsthand at 14 years old.
That was heartbreaking. I was raped in a car by an older student in Johannesburg. I remember when he was raping me, his friend was in the back seat of his car watching. And as a 14-year-old, I had the courage to come forward. We reported it to the police. The police took a statement. I had to go to the hospital to have an internal check, which all went into evidence. And then lo and behold, everything disappeared. The guy was from a very wealthy family and all the evidence just disappeared.
The heartbreaking thing is that everybody in my school found out. I was so badly bullied and shamed that I used to run home crying. People would punch me in the hallways and say, "You're a slut." That was my first experience of any form of justice. I was just 14, and I was let down by authorities.
Legislatively, what are some of the most important things that could be done to support survivors of and the fight against gender violence?
First of all, it starts with law enforcement. Law enforcement needs to be trained on how to deal with a survivor that comes forward. The statute of limitations also needs to be changed. There's no amount of time that you can give a victim of one of the most horrific acts a human being can do to another a human being to come forward. People process things at different times.
I think what's disappointed me more than anything with this case is you've got over one hundred women who have been raped and sexually trafficked by Ghislaine and Jeffrey, but you've only got four witnesses on trial because the victims had to be of a certain age when the abuse happened. One of the lines of defense is, "Well, they were 16 years old. That's the legal age limit in Mexico." For me, what that is actually saying to the U.S. and to the world is, "You know what? If you're of age, it's okay for you to be raped. You don't matter." That, for me, is the most horrific thing.
I will never have my day in court. And for me, rape is rape at the end of the day. It doesn't matter if you're in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. Rape is rape. So I'm very disappointed.
I'm also very disappointed that on the first day of trial, I wasn't even allowed in the courthouse with Ghislaine. I'm devastated. I've flown all the way here to be in the same room as Ghislaine, and even that was taken away from me.
Did you find out you couldn't enter the courthouse only when you arrived?
My lawyer contacted the U.S. government and said, "Sarah's flying in from Europe. Are there special concessions for the survivors who would like to attend the trial?" And we were told, "Nope, the survivors who want to attend the trial have to stand in line with the rest of everybody else."
So my lawyer actually queued at six o'clock in the morning, just so I could be protected from the media. He was waiting there so I didn't have to stand in line to attend the trial of the woman who was responsible for trafficking and grooming me. But still, I was denied because people had slept on the street in line the night before. As a survivor, I ended up being in an overflow room with a whole bunch of journalists for eight hours. It was horrific. And I couldn't even leave the courthouse. I was told that if I left the courthouse to go and get lunch, I would have to join the queue again. I literally had to stay in the courthouse, and I had one journalist come over and ask me if I was Ghislaine Maxwell's sister.
I'm devastated. I'm so heartbroken. And all I wanted was for Ghislaine to see me, and I'll never have that opportunity. I wanted her to see that no matter how much she tortured me, no matter how much she starved me, no matter how many times she forced me into Jeffrey's room to be raped, I wanted her to see that I am a strong, empowered woman, and that I'm not afraid of her anymore.
The grooming aspect of Maxwell's role is so crucial in understanding how the sex trafficking ring was able to thrive. So many survivors who have told their stories have said, "We felt more comfortable because was Ghislaine was there and she was a woman." What was the psychological toll of being violated and abused by a woman specifically?
This is why Jeffrey's sex trafficking ring was able to grow. You must understand, it was like a pyramid scheme run by a woman who trained other women. When I was recruited in a nightclub, I was alone in New York City. I didn't know a soul. All I wanted was just to have a female friend to go for a coffee or to lunch with. If I was in a nightclub and I was approach by a dirty old man, I'd be like, "Get lost."
But I was approached and befriended by a girl my age, who interrogated me and interviewed me, found out everything about me. And then, she invited me to the cinema where there were more girls my age. They were so loving and so kind, and that's how I ended up on [Epstein's] island, because it was never, "Let's go to a dirty old man rapist's island." It was, "Let's go for a girls' weekend. We're going to have so much fun."
This is probably one of the most sophisticated sex trafficking rings of the century, because it was run by women. And Ghislaine had a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality. You would expect her to be nurturing, motherly. But she was a torturer, and she used very sophisticated grooming techniques.
Ghislaine broke me and tortured me to the point where I almost tried to swim from the island. I was just about to climb down the rocks [to escape], and I would've died. That's how desperate I was. But then, Ghislaine came and got me, and she was all motherly and kind and reassuring. And you must understand, you're trapped on an island, you're being raped, you're being abused. I was starved. And to get any ounce of kindness or humility or compassion—you're like a hungry dog. That's what was confusing, because there was a woman offering you that slight bit of nurturing until she gained your trust again. That's how you create what's called a trauma bond. Then, because you're so traumatized, she gains your trust a little bit because she's a woman, and she made it so normal. She normalized being raped every day.
That's why I need people to understand that Ghislaine is as guilty as Jeffrey, because she is a woman and she violated us. She tortured us. She used to take my food away and make me watch everyone else eat dinner. She would replace it with a few slices of cucumber and tomato. I will never get my head around how Ghislaine could have betrayed our womanhood so much.
What has it been like coming together with other survivors around Maxwell's trial and having this moment where you might get some form of justice?
It's been incredibly empowering. And to stand with the other survivors in solidarity, there's power in numbers. I have to say, I am absolutely in awe of the bravery and the courage of all the survivors that are still fighting for justice, and all the girls that have come forward. We're all together. We're all warriors in one battle here.
*Editor's note: Ransome sued Epstein, Maxwell, and others in 2017 regarding these allegations and settled the civil action two years later for an undisclosed amount. Maxwell denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
