Last Saturday the prison staff at the jail where Jeffrey Epstein was awaiting trial found the billionaire dead after he allegedly committed suicide. Immediately conspiracy theories surrounding the death of this wealthy man sprung up. Epstein had been facing sex trafficking charges and accusations of abusing dozens of underage girls that he had lured into his mansions throughout his years. Epstein had many powerful friends, including but not limited to President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew. Many conspiracists believe that the billionaire was murdered, or at least coerced into suicide by any number of these powerful individuals who did not wish to see their own crimes come to light during his trial.

These accusations are, of course, conspiracies. At this time it has been revealed that two staff members at the prison fell asleep and forget to check on Epstein. They later falsified their records claiming they had completed their regular check-ins with Epstein. There are some who would still claim that this is suspicious, as Epstein was a high profile prisoner and had been on suicide watch, yet was still somehow able to take his own life. Epstein was put under suicide watch after he was found in July with marks on his neck.

There has been a large public outcry and a lot of anger directed at the fact that Epstein was neglected long enough to allow his death to occur. One thing is for sure, without the possibility of Epstein himself outing other well known, powerful men in his circle for similar behavior, it is unlikely that Epstein's victims, or the potential victims of his friends, will receive justice. Less than 1% of rape convictions actually lead to felony consequences, so the chances that Epstein's victims would subject themselves to the public eye over a fabricated story does not seem very likely. People often like to say "innocent until proven guilty" and "what about the false rape accusations that destroy men's lives" and while these are both valid points to make, the rates of false reporting are very low when compared to the rates of rapists who do not suffer due to their actions.

Sexism in our society is often glossed over and not taken seriously, and some don't even believe that a wage gap exists. But cases such as this prove that sexism still runs rampant in our country and some of the most horrific abuse of women is done by the most powerful people in America. In a patriarchal society and world, it's unlikely that we will ever be able to reach a place where women aren't constantly disrespected, objectified, used, and treated as lesser, because sexism is ingrained into our social constructs and power dynamics.

It is heartbreaking that these women won't receive the justice they deserve due to neglect, and all we can do is hope that enough evidence comes to light to convict the other men involved.