Abstract :
The case of Jeffrey Epstein is one of the most important modern instances of the combination of elite power and institutional responsibility and survivor trauma. This paper analyzes the Epstein scandal as an interdisciplinary case study, which combines the medical, political and social points of view. Based on the investigative reports, court records, witness accounts, and the academic literature about trauma and institutional failure, the study examines how institutional vulnerabilities of the law and political structures allowed the extended exploitation process and created the attitudes of people relating to the case. Medically, the paper identifies the psychological and physiological effects that come with surviving trafficking and sexual abuse in the long term such as post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, and chronic psychological distress. The political aspect of the research is to examine how networks of influence, elite ties, and controversial legal deals may have led to the view of institutional complicity and undermined mechanisms of accountability. In the case, the situation is seen socially in the framework of power inequality, gender inequality, and trust in government and justice structures. The results indicate that the Epstein case explains a multifaceted intersection of the structural weaknesses that enabled the continuation of the abuse and the exclusion of the voices of victims over many years. It states that more institutional regulation, trauma-informed legal policies, and increased openness of political and judicial bodies is needed to treat the survivors and stop the repeating crisis in the system in the future.