Since the 15th century, when the followers of liberalism in Europe set out to discover new areas in the world and the colonial period was formed, along with the plunder of Africa’s natural resources, the slave trade was also formed.
During this period, thousands of Africans were “hunted” and sold in European and American markets, and the economies of countries such as England, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and then the United States, flourished from this trade. During this period, slaves did not only become a means of production, but were also sexually abused by Westerners, and sexual abuse, especially against children and adolescents, was added to the suffering of slaves.
James Walwin, a historian and professor at New York University, has presented a vivid picture of sexual slavery during the colonial period in his research and in his book “Black Ivory” says: “Any type of sexual operation with female slaves was permitted, and the first sexual intercourse of white boys who reached puberty was usually with black women who had raised them or even breastfed them. Thus, a generation of congenital slaves emerged; Humans who had white fathers and worked as slaves in the homes of their paternal brothers and relatives. For a long time, Europeans prevented the formation of a family center in black society because they thought that they lacked the instinct to form a family; creatures lower than animals! Many years passed before slaves were finally allowed to have a family life.”
Sexual abuse of slaves, which gradually became known as sexual slavery, transformed the inhabitants of colonial countries, especially in Africa, into uneven societies lacking a balanced demographic and cultural structure, and destroyed their political and social structures. Men, especially young men, were generally enslaved and separated from their families, and the female population was disproportionately dominated by the male population and, worse, exposed to the pleasures of their Western European masters. Colonialism in Africa added new concepts such as the sex industry and “slave prostitution” to the Western vocabulary and extended it to other parts of the world, and thus a new type of slavery was formed that held millions of women in captivity and spread prostitution throughout the world.
In 1991, at a conference of the Southeast Asian Women’s Organization in Malaysia, it was said that from 1975 to 1991, that is, in a period of 16 years, at least 30 million women were sold into brothels worldwide. Ms. Vasilia Tamzali, head of UNESCO’s Women’s Division, said at the conference: “The sex industry is a huge market with its own driving forces. These global slavery networks are run by powerful Western mafia gangs that control the sex market, from Japan to the United States.” (Time Magazine, June 1993)
In the 21st century, the events of Epstein Island, which became known as a hideout for the trafficking of young women and underage girls for sexual slavery and child abuse, and sexual harassment, were another nail in the coffin of liberal democracy after the tragedies of the colonial era. Jeffrey Edward Epstein, an American financier, child molester, and human trafficker, committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in 2019. He bought the island of “Little St. James” in 1998 and turned it into a place of pleasure for senior officials of Western countries, especially the United States and Britain. On this island, a modern system was created to lure and attract underage girls who were transported to the island on private planes with the promise of work and earning money. They, along with a number of children, were sexually abused and molested by Epstein’s high-ranking guests. To prosper in his business, Epstein asked his victims to lure other girls and bring them to the island in exchange for money.
He had relationships with influential figures in politics, economics, and the media in the United States, Europe, and Israel, and with their support, he was not afraid of the consequences of his crimes.
After Epstein died in prison in 2019, the FBI raided the island and seized hundreds of gigabytes of files and images. Subsequent targeted leaks revealed a much larger and more dangerous network than previously thought. These leaks revealed that guests on the island included prominent Western figures.
The Epstein Island scandals, which are beyond description, have shown how liberal systems that present themselves as the cultural axis of the world and supporters of human rights, women and children, nurture networks of sexual abuse in their hearts with the participation of influential political and economic figures.
Today, it is the duty of the UN Human Rights Council and other international institutions to break their silence and take a firm stand against the transnational dimensions of this tragedy. Institutions such as UNICEF, which is responsible for protecting children’s rights, and the international police (Interpol) must carry out their duties as quickly as possible. ofcourse the continued silence of governmental and non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and similar institutions will show their participation in the tragedies of Epstein Island.
