Why the Epstein Coverage Is Triggering So Many Women

Every time a powerful man’s abuse fills the headlines, something else happens quietly.

Women across professions, families, and communities find themselves unable to sleep. They feel sudden waves of nausea while scrolling. Memories they worked hard to contain begin pressing at the edges. It does not look dramatic from the outside. It looks like distraction, irritability, exhaustion, tears in a grocery store parking lot.

This is not just interest in a news story. It is the nervous system recognizing something it has known before.

For much of the last century, child sexual abuse and incest were minimized, dismissed, or pushed into silence. Many women were told it was not that bad, that they were exaggerating, that speaking up would destroy their families. Now, when cases like Epstein’s dominate public conversation, they do more than expose corruption. They reopen private histories.

In this piece, I explore why media coverage of sexual exploitation can activate old trauma, why your reactions make sense, and how we can respond to one another with belief instead of suspicion. If you or someone you care about feels stirred up by the current headlines, this is for you.

You are not overreacting. You are responding. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Unsplash Image by Mehran Biabani

@mehranbiabani