I have no words for the Republicans who still support this administration after the evidence being released in the Epstein files. I have no words for those who boast that they are protecting children by villainizing transgender people, yell about rainbow posters in classrooms, and demand books about being gay or in any way not white be removed from libraries but stay quiet about the Epstein files. I have no words for the woman driving by me last month while I was protesting who took the time to roll down her window, snarl and scream at me “*uck you, go Trump!” in front of her young daughter sitting in the passenger seat. The current president is literally a convicted felon who has been listed in the files tens of thousands of times yet you blindly follow, keep quiet and complicit.

It is okay to be a republican and denounce what this man is doing to our country. Other countries and governments are holding the people in the files legally accountable and both men and women are resigning in shame regardless of rank or status. Meanwhile our “great” nation ignores their eyes and ears once again and nods along while *rump says the files exonerated him. His press team wants us to “turn the page”, news alert-he’s on the next page too. This is so much bigger than left versus right, it is right versus wrong. Children aren’t respected, protected or believed in America, they’re fair game for any white man to desecrate and destroy.

The silence is deafening. If your son or daughter’s teacher was mentioned once in a sexual abuse case, you would be the first to demand they be removed, fired, and prosecuted to the fullest extent as well you should. Make it make sense that you are okay with hundreds of girls and young women giving sworn testimony detailing the sexual assault perpetrator, your president. His misogynist comments to female reporters, past comments about girls and women, his own damn daughter, the infamous “grab em” comment, and the Women’s US Hockey Team. How do you convince yourself that this is the right man to “lead” our country? There are decades of testimony but you still believe he did nothing wrong? The UN Human Rights Council has warned that the files contain “disturbing and credible evidence” of systematic sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation that may meet the legal threshold for crimes against humanity. We have sold our soul as a country. Once a guiding although imperfect light for the world, we are now a play-to-play commodity for the elite class.

I am not just an angry middle aged white woman, I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and assault. Nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the US have experienced sexual assault in their lifetimes. There are over 300,000 victims of sexual assault annually in the US. These are just the reported cases. Every woman you know has a story they can share about sexual harassment, every single one. These experiences often first occur during childhood. According to the Youth Justice Board, the number of children committing sexual offenses is on the rise. This will only increase given our society’s blase attitude towards the Epstein files.

Enough with the file dumps meant to desensitize readers and start listing the names of the accused and line up the prosecutions. This country is warehousing immigrants without cause, why haven’t the men listed in the files been hauled into detention? If we don’t hold the Epstein/Elite class who are listed in the files accountable, we as a country are making a clear statement that sexual abuse and assault against women and children is tolerated. We are codifying pro rape and pedophilia into our framework; children and women are fair game. My heart breaks for all of the women and children now adults who were assaulted and had their childhoods and lives destroyed by the men in the files. I rage for the girls and young women who are growing up in a country where men condone sexual abuse and assault against them. Shame on you if you don’t stand up and demand accountability while you still have a chance.

Where is our humanity, our decency?

Kris Bailey is a Westfield resident.