‘I was raped by Jeffrey Epstein – this tech could have been a gamechanger’
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Jess Michaels thought she was going for a job interview before she was raped by Jeffrey Epstein in 1991. Her roommate had encouraged her to go, but after she went inside past the building’s doorman, the billionaire forced himself on her. Years before #metoo made discussions of sexual assault mainstream, she froze in shock and anxiety and later quietly walked back outside, her life upended.
![[?I was raped by Jeffrey Epstein - this tech could have been a gamechanger?]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233467814-40f9-e1734453231303.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
At 22, she had no way of knowing that Epstein, who counted Donald Trump and Bill Clinton among his friends, would later be publicly disgraced. Although Epstein is now one of the world’s most notorious sex offenders, it took Jess almost 30 years to understand and acknowledge her abuse.
![[?I was raped by Jeffrey Epstein - this tech could have been a gamechanger?]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233460219-a8c8-e1734453291763.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
She was not alone. Epstein’s social and financial power made his victims feel isolated and ashamed, and that their word would not be believed. For decades, she did not know that he was a serial predator, and what happened to her was also happening to countless other young women and girls.
But with huge advances in tech since she walked into that New York building, Jess believes there is now a tool available which could tip the balance in empowering survivors. An encrypted website called Callisto offers a confidential place to report sexual assault, harassment or violation, which goes no further –unless somebody else names the same perpetrator.
