When Jeffrey Epstein died in custody in 2019, the search for justice didn’t stop — it shifted. In the void he left behind, public rage, media obsession, and the hunger for accountability settled on one name: Ghislaine Maxwell.
She became the perfect villain. Not innocent, not powerless — but undeniably convenient.
What a Scapegoat Offers
Maxwell’s conviction for sex trafficking was warranted. She was not a bystander. But the outsized focus on her trial, her past, her demeanor — even her wardrobe — reveals something deeper: a cultural impulse to find a woman to punish, especially when the men behind the curtain are harder to reach.
Epstein operated with the support and silence of powerful people. Politicians, CEOs, royals — all mentioned, few pursued. The moment Maxwell became the focal point, the conversation narrowed. It became easier to believe justice had been served.
The Gendered Narrative
This isn’t about sympathy. It’s about scrutiny. Why does a woman involved in a male-dominated trafficking ring become the headline? Why is her betrayal framed more viscerally than his brutality?
Historically, society has reserved a unique kind of ire for women who betray “womanhood.” Female complicity is often perceived as worse than male cruelty — because it feels like a deeper betrayal. It fits a narrative arc we’re used to: fallen women, bad mothers, wicked accomplices.
Silencing the Bigger Truth
The obsession with Maxwell’s guilt distracted from a harder, uglier reality: the systemic protection of elite men who harm girls. No one woman can run a trafficking empire. But focusing on her allowed the world to pretend someone had been held accountable — while entire systems remained untouched.
Justice wasn’t served. It was staged.
A Broader Reckoning
Maxwell should be remembered as part of the machine — not the whole of it. Feminism demands accountability, yes, but also clarity. We can hold women responsible without making them sole repositories for collective guilt.
Because if we don’t, we’ll keep letting power hide behind its favorite shield: a woman with a target on her back.