Categories: Sexual Abuse

What Is The Allure of Wealthy Older Men?

In a later post, we’ll look at the lasting impact of sexual abuse. But first, let’s take a peek at what enticed young girls to take part in the sexual abuse of Jeffrey Epstein and his cronies.

We’ve talked about why men are attracted to preying on vulnerable girls. But what was the allure from their victims’ point of view?

Why did they do it? In some instances, they were lured with promises to assist with their careers. (Many of the girls were recruited into the modelling agency, MC2.) Or lured with promises of getting into and paying for a prestigious university of their choice (Harvard, NYU).

Money is a temptation, of course. Would these young girls and women have been enticed into dating a broke old man? Not so likely.

Wanting a male perspective, I ask my partner what he thinks about why young girls could get lured by older men.

His first response is that they are not informed enough to protect themselves.

He says, a lot depends on their relationship with their fathers as well as their mothers. When things are really bad at home, a girl may ignore parenting input, with an attitude of “I’ll show you!”

He adds, they are an alternative to a teenage girl’s mundane life. No doubt, there were perks. Girls are probably not prepared for the full spectrum of men’s ways. Have they been talked to about these things or do they get their sex education from their peers?

Some of the girls came from disadvantaged families, were poor, had lost parents, were in foster care, or had left home. They may initially have enjoyed attention they may not be getting at home. They may never have had any money. So two or three hundred dollars for a massage may have been hard to resist.

That made them vulnerable.

Jeffrey preyed on girls who were in a bad way, girls who were basically homeless. He went after girls who he thought no one would listen to, and he was right.
~ Courtney Wild, who met Epstein at age 14, to Miami Herald reporter, Julie K. Brown

And, finally, I ask, why would the girls stay? What arguments would Jeffrey Epstein make to get them to stay? What power dynamic was at play?

That’s the topic of my next post: the role the power dynamic plays in giving away our personal power.

I will delve deeper into the role parents can play in protecting our girls from predators in a later post.

mia