Inside Virginia Giuffre’s private turmoil and the moment she cried out for help

Virginia Giuffre, who was used as a sex slave by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, endured “unbearable” trauma and had private struggles in the months before she took her own life.

Former sex slave Virginia Giuffre kept a low profile after settling civil claims over the abuse she suffered as a teenager, but it appears her life was unravelling at the seams.

Giuffre, 41, was widely lauded for the strength and courage she showed when speaking out against her abusers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, challenging them in court and demanding they pay for the years of physical and emotional pain they put her through.

She was key in the investigation and eventual conviction of Maxwell, along with other investigations by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and didn’t shy away from accusing Prince Andrew of raping her three times – which he strongly denies.

Virginia Giuffre took her own life on Friday. Picture: Instagram

Virginia Giuffre posted a selfie in hospital earlier in April. Picture: Instagram

But the years of pain and abuse took its toll. On Friday night, she took her own life at her farm in Neergabby, north of Perth. On Saturday, Giuffre’s US-based family said the trauma she endured was “unbearable”.

In the final months of her life, Giuffre had private struggles with her immediate family – she hadn’t been living at the family home in Perth for some time, and her husband Robert had filed a family domestic violence order against her.

Pictured, left to right: Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, Ghislaine Maxwell

Her representatives also told this masthead she was involved in an incident in January. Her brother later said that incident left her with a cracked sternum and perforated eye, and almost killed her.

Social media posts also revealed she was estranged from her children and desperately wanted to see them.

But the real sign that she was struggling came in the form of an accidental social media post. Her family later revealed she was supposed to upload it to her personal Facebook page, but it went to her public Instagram page.

Virginia Giuffre is pictured during a press conference outside a Manhattan court in New York in 2019. Picture: AP

In that post, she said she was ready to die.

She wrote about a collision she was involved in with a school bus, saying: “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.

“I’m ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time, but you know what they say about wishes.”

Giuffre was still alive four days later, and was pictured out and about with her brother. Her family and representatives maintained her physical condition was poor.

Virginia Giuffre died at her farm near Neergabby, WA. Picture: Realestate.com.au

In a statement to this masthead, Giuffre’s family said on Saturday: “She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.”

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors. Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”

“She was heroic and will always be remembered for her incredible courage and loving spirit. In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight,” they continued.

“There are no words that can express the grave loss we feel today with the passing of our sweet Virginia. We know that she is with the angels.”

If you, or someone you know, need help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au

For help with depression, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or at www.beyondblue.org.au

The SANE Helpline is 1800 18 SANE (7263) or at www.sane.org

Originally published as Inside Virginia Giuffre’s private turmoil and the moment she cried out for help