Virginia Giuffre, a courageous advocate for survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and a central figure in allegations against Britain’s Prince Andrew, has tragically died by suicide at the age of 41, according to her family.
In an emotional statement, her relatives said, “It is with broken hearts that we announce Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia.”
Authorities in Western Australia confirmed that emergency responders found Giuffre unresponsive at her property near Perth on Friday night. Despite immediate medical attention, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have stated there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
Her family shared that the lasting scars from her experiences became too much to bear. “Virginia was a fearless warrior in the battle against sexual exploitation and human trafficking,” they wrote. “She inspired countless survivors, but the immense weight of her own pain ultimately proved overwhelming.”
As a mother of three, Giuffre had been one of the most vocal accusers of Epstein. In 2019, she publicly alleged that Epstein trafficked her to powerful individuals, including Prince Andrew, when she was just 17 — asserting that the prince knew she was underage at the time.
Prince Andrew has consistently denied all accusations made against him.
Epstein, a financier, was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges related to the sex trafficking of minors but died by suicide the following month while awaiting trial in a New York prison. Investigations later revealed that he allegedly operated a network exploiting girls as young as 14 between 2002 and 2005.
Court documents made public in 2022 disclosed that Giuffre had reached a $500,000 settlement with Epstein in 2009, without any admission of guilt on his part.
Before these developments, Epstein had pleaded guilty to state charges in 2008 related to soliciting prostitution from a minor, resulting in a controversial 13-month sentence.
Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested in 2020 and later convicted in 2021 of federal charges, including trafficking minors. She received a 20-year prison sentence for her role.
Although Giuffre did not take the stand during Maxwell’s trial, her activism and personal story have left a lasting legacy in the ongoing fight against sexual abuse and human trafficking.