his morning, I read in my local paper about a common type of trafficker called a “Romeo pimp.”
This is the trafficker who develops a romantic relationship with his victim. Who knew there was such a term?
We don’t know whether Jeffrey Epstein developed a romantic relationship with his victims, or whether the sociopath was even capable of warm feelings.
But we do know, from the girls’ accounts, that there was a lot of emotional and mental manipulation going on.
And we know that victims often become emotionally attached to their trafficker. There are a few fascinating psychological curiosities that help to explain why Epstein was able to coerce and psychologically enslave his victims and get them to do his dirty work.
Trauma Bonding
Where you would normally expect the victim to hold a strong dislike, distaste and even hatred for the captor, the victim often develops an attachment with him. Sometimes a romantic attachment.
How? What are the conditions that might cause a victim to bond with the perpetrator?
1. The human being’s primal need to survive. Our brain and nervous system are wired to keep us alive. An insidious threat to a person’s physical self or psychological sense of self would trigger that most basic of all human drives.
2. A feeling of helplessness and powerlessness on the part of the victim.
3. A strong dose of covert manipulation that requires their silence.
4. Intermittent acts of kindness that have the effect of befuddling the brain and keeping the person off kilter.
5. A belief on the part of the victim that who would believe me?
Trauma Bonding sounds a lot like a version of the well-documented Stockholm Syndrome, defined as a psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands.
Here’s an excellent resource if you want to learn more about this phenomenon: Encyclopedia Britannica
What suggestion(s) would you have for parents to inoculate their children from emotional and mental manipulation of any sort, romantic or not?
