Andrew’s arrest does not guarantee justice for trafficking victims, says top US lawyer

A lawyer representing several victims of Jeffrey Epstein has said she does not believe there will be “any real justice” for those trafficked and abused by him and his high-profile associates, despite the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.Gloria Allred, who has worked as a women’s rights lawyer for five decades, said that while the UK had acted quickly on the allegation that the former prince had shared confidential documents with the disgraced financier while he was a trade envoy, there appeared to be far less progress on sexual assault allegations against him.Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “The state has acted quickly to make this arrest but there still has not been any action on the part of the police on allegations that Andrew has committed crimes against women.“Apparently allegations concerning the state trade secrets and/or allegations of financial crimes are given priority and quick action while allegations of rape and child sexual abuse and sex trafficking take many years to investigate and do not result in arrests and accountability for victims who are women and girls.”King Charles III’s brother has denied raping Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April last year before the publication of her memoir, and previously reached an out-of-court settlement with her. Another woman has since come forward alleging that he also abused her.Allred added: “Nevertheless, the UK is ahead of the United States in demanding some accountability from powerful men who were part of Jeffrey Epstein’s social and business circles.“And in contrast to the United States, there has been no accountability in the criminal justice system and no meaningful accountability in the civil justice system in the United States for powerful men who have conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse or sex traffic children and adult female victims.”She also criticised the US Department of Justice, saying it had once operated independently of the president but was now “in a way, acting as the president’s own private law firm”, and argued that Donald Trump could not be compelled to prosecute alleged offenders.Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing.Despite legal requirements to release all files related to the state’s investigation into Epstein, she said some documents remained undisclosed.“In other words, we can’t see all of the files, and it seems as though survivors have been punished by having their names released, while the names of alleged perpetrators, in some cases – rich, powerful, famous men – those have been covered up,” she said.She said the arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor would make “no difference” to the likelihood anyone in the US would be prosecuted. “I can’t say that that’s going to happen even though it would be nice,” she added.