Karine Silva, one among Jeffrey Epstein’s numerous victims, implored the New York Metropolis Council final week to go laws empowering victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence within the Huge Apple.
Silva spoke publicly for the primary time at a committee listening to calling for passage of Intro. 1297, a invoice that might reopen the “lookback window” permitting survivors to file civil lawsuits below the town’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA).
“If you do not pass 1297, you will protect Jeffrey Epstein,” she bluntly testified earlier than metropolis lawmakers, stating that as a toddler, Epstein — the accused little one intercourse trafficker and disgraced financier — had sexually abused her.
Silva informed lawmakers she had struggled for years to return ahead, and now the statute of limitations is obstructing her likelihood to hunt accountability.
“When I was a child, I was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. I could not come forward before. I wasn’t ready. Awareness and courage take time,” she mentioned. “Now I am.”
Silva testified that she struggles every day with how she was abused, however that she can’t afford psychological well being therapies, asking the council to deliver the laws, which has 41 co-sponsors, to a vote.
“You have a choice: Helping me, a child sex abuse victim, or protect Epstein,” she mentioned. “Please help me instead of protecting Jeffrey Epstein. The world will see who you side with, and will tell predators in New York City whether it is okay to sexually abuse vulnerable children like I was or not.”
The laws comes within the wake of a courtroom ruling earlier this 12 months that restricted GMVA claims to incidents occurring after 2022, dismissing lots of of pending lawsuits filed by survivors of abuse in city-run establishments, together with 450 circumstances towards juvenile detention services. Silva was amongst dozens of survivors and advocates who spoke earlier than the Council’s Committee on Ladies and Gender Fairness on October 16, urging assist for a measure that might successfully overturn the latest courtroom choice.
Queens Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers, who launched the laws, mentioned the ruling created “a dangerous loophole” that threatens to disclaim justice to survivors whose claims have advantage. She mentioned the invoice would create a brand new one-year window from March 2026 via March 2027 for survivors to file swimsuit.
“The promise of justice for survivors of gender-motivated violence is in jeopardy,” Brooks-Powers mentioned. “Without this bill, their pursuit of justice could end not because their claims lack merit, but because of a technical gap in the law.”
Supporters say the invoice would make clear the legislation to make sure that establishments, not simply particular person abusers, might be held accountable for enabling abuse.
On Oct. 16, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams referred to as the invoice “particularly vital” and mentioned it could make clear that survivors might deliver circumstances towards establishments that enabled abuse by their workers members. He mentioned many such establishments had been run by metropolis companies and that the measure was wanted to carry them accountable.
Metropolis cites fiscal issues
Saloni Sethi, commissioner of the Mayor’s Workplace to Finish Home and Gender-Based mostly Violence, mentioned the administration helps the purpose of holding perpetrators accountable however raised issues about potential fiscal impression.
“The city supports the goal of holding perpetrators of gender-based violence to account and supporting victims,” Sethi mentioned. “However, there are additional considerations, including the potential for substantial cost considerations, that the administration would like to discuss with the Council in a separate context.”
Brooks-Powers pressed the commissioner on what number of survivors is perhaps affected by the town’s present litigation stance. Sethi mentioned her workplace didn’t have the numbers accessible. Brooks-Powers responded that it was disheartening to listen to value cited as a purpose for hesitation when survivors’ lives had been irreversibly modified by sexual violence.
“The city owes it to survivors to support this legislation so they can continue on their healing journey and have full accountability,” she mentioned.
Karine Silva’s lawyer, Jordan Merson, whose legislation agency has a historical past of representing victims of Epstein, thanked Silva for coming ahead throughout his testimony, saying, “It makes a difference,” earlier than sharply criticizing Commissioner Sethi’s “moment of pure cowardice,” wherein she didn’t specify the prices she was involved about.
“That is like the most hollow argument I’ve heard,” Merson informed the committee. “These circumstances had been speculated to exist, and even when they weren’t, you may have somebody right here who can’t afford psychological well being remedy. Would we moderately Jeffrey Epstein pay for that, or would we moderately the town of New York via Medicaid pay for that?
“The cost of this should be borne by the institutions that did it, and if that happens to be New York City, then New York City should pay for it, because it was intended to pay for it under the original law,” he added.
Merson accused the town of “aggressively” attempting to have sexual abuse circumstances dismissed for the reason that appellate courtroom ruling, which discovered the Council’s laws too unclear, saying officers are trying to “wipe these cases and victims off the map.”
He urged the council to deliver the laws to the ground on the subsequent acknowledged assembly on Oct. 29, warning that extra circumstances will likely be dismissed. “Every time a case is dismissed, a sexual abuse survivor is told they can’t get justice,” he mentioned.
Merson’s legislation agency didn’t reply to repeated requests for particulars of Silva’s alleged abuse claims towards Epstein.
In an announcement issued Friday, a Metropolis Council spokesperson wouldn’t verify whether or not it the invoice will go to a vote on the subsequent assembly, saying it appreciates all those that testified final week, “and the Council will be reviewing this testimony as the bill continues through the legislative process, which allows for thorough input from all stakeholders.”
‘I’m not searching for revenge or cash’
Khalid Melvin was amongst those that shared his story of abuse in a juvenile facility, pushing for Intro. 1297 to reopen civil claims for survivors.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
A number of survivors shared testimony about long-delayed trauma and the necessity for renewed entry to justice. Some described abuse in juvenile detention services and medical establishments. Others mentioned that they had misplaced hope after the latest courtroom ruling invalidated their claims.
“What happened to me didn’t just stay in my past. It has affected every part of my life, my relationships, my ability to trust, my sense of safety in this world,” mentioned Fauzia Mohammed, who testified that she was sexually abused in two juvenile detention services as a toddler. “Intro. 1297 matters. This bill restores what the City Council intended — to give survivors the right to pursue justice from the institutions that allowed the abuse to happen.”
“For me, this is about making sure no other child goes through what I did, and that survivors can finally have the opportunity to get the justice they deserve,” she added.Khalid Melvin, who entered a juvenile facility at 14, mentioned workers “took advantage of us,” whereas Jason Moore, now 63, described abuse each in detention and by clergy, saying it turned a spot the place he misplaced his childhood.
“The people who hurt me had complete control over me and had no way to escape the trauma that has stayed with me my entire life,” mentioned Moore. “There were times that I didn’t want to live anymore. I tried to take my own life more than once, and I couldn’t see it way out of the pain. No child should ever have felt this hopelessness.”
He mentioned the sooner revival window “gave me something I hadn’t had before — hope… but now that the hope is slipping away again.”
“I’m not looking for revenge or money. I just want acknowledgement that what happened to me was wrong and that it will never happen again to another child. Please pass tIntro, 1297. It’s not just about changing a law. It’s about restoring hope and dignity for all of us,” he added.
Committee Chair Farah Louis informed survivors who testified it was going to be a “fight” however requested them “to stick with it and stand with us, just as we stand with you.”Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Chaplain Dr. Donna Hilton, who mentioned she was raped and assaulted whereas incarcerated on Rikers Island as a young person, delivered one of many day’s most impassioned pleas: “We continue to be at tables like this, over and over, asking and pleading that justice be served… It’s about time people are held accountable.”
Lawyer Anthony T. DiPietro, who makes a speciality of affected person security and medical malpractice, informed council members he has represented greater than 800 ladies abused by convicted former Columbia College OB-GYN Robert Hadden and greater than 450 males and boys abused by convicted Weill Cornell urologist Darius Paduch, saying the invoice could also be their final likelihood to carry highly effective establishments accountable for many years of alleged misconduct..
He mentioned the circumstances reveal that “institutions always know the abuse is happening but do nothing to protect their patients,” including that reopening the civil window doesn’t simply compensate victims, “it sends an important message to these corporations and reminds them that the community is watching and that they will be held accountable when they violate their oath and betray the community’s trust.”
Chair of the committee Farah Louis, herself a survivor of abuse, closed the listening to with a message of solidarity: “The trauma never goes away. Healing is a journey,” she mentioned. “I hope you all continue in the fight with us to ensure that this bill gets passed.”
If enacted, Introduction 1297 would reopen the GMVA’s look-back window from March 1, 2026, via March 1, 2027, permitting survivors of gender-motivated violence, no matter when their abuse occurred, to pursue civil justice towards people and establishments that enabled it.
