The Duke of York has pledged to 'fight against the evils of sex trafficking'
Sex abuse charities and campaigners have reacted with anger after Prince Andrew's commitment to campaign against the "the evils of sex trafficking" and pledge to support its victims.
In a statement following the news of a settlement between Andrew and his accuser Virginia Giuffre, the royal said he would demonstrate his "regret" for his ties with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the "fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”
However sex abuse charities and campaigners have distanced themselves from the Duke of York, whose statement about the financial statement contained no admission of guilt or any sort of apology to Giuffre, who had accused the duke of sexually assaulting her on three occasions when she was 17.
Teresa Parker, a spokeswoman for
Women's Aid, said that the "last thing" survivors of abuse want is for "any powerful man accused of abusing women to be campaigning on their behalf, or pledging support for them."
She told the
Sun: "We know only too well that those who perpetrate abuse against women can be manipulative, and it is for this reason that many survivors of abuse will feel this way.
"Where financial settlements are made because the accused have wealth and power in a situation – such as when a footballer accused of domestic abuse negotiates an out-of-court settlement – from a survivor’s perspective, this is the opposite of justice being done.
"It is about using money and power to manage and control the situation. And we know that power and control are ultimately at the heart of abuse, so paying for a situation to go away is part of this.
"The best campaigners for abuse are the brave women who have survived it, not those trying to publicly clear their name.”
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Meanwhile, abuse survivor Lily Di Giovanni said she was "furious" at the royal's decision to pay off Giuffre instead of facing trial, saying that it "shows guilt."
She said: "It's awful that he has chosen to make a payment. Why pay a woman off if it never happened? That in itself shows a huge amount of guilt and The Queen should not be protecting him.
"If he was not guilty he would have gone to America to take the stand and give testimony.
"Instead he's scurried away like the little pig he is and let the taxpayer give money. I'm furious, he should have taken the stand."
Dr Charlotte Proudman, a leading barrister in domestic abuse law, said it was "wholly arrogant" of the prince to think that victims of sex trafficking would "ever want his support."
She told the publication: "He has never done anything for victims of abuse. But when it's convenient for him, he uses their trauma and abuse as a way of trying to reform himself.
"He remains a man accused of rape who has not faced justice, he has not apologised, he used vicious victim-blaming tactics that backfired including trying to expose her mental health records to the world to discredit her.
"No victim would want the support of a man who gaslit Giuffre and used abusive tactics to get his way."
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