00:00Hey, everyone. My name is Sky Roberts, and I am the brother of Virginia Roberts-Dufresne.
00:06There are moments in a nation's life where we are tested, not by our words, but by what we are
00:12willing to confront.
00:14Today, we stand at one of these moments.
00:17America is at a crossroads.
00:19We can choose to let the Epstein case remain a stain on our history, another chapter where the powerful are
00:25protected,
00:25the truth is buried, and survivors are asked to carry the consequences in silence.
00:31Or we can choose something different.
00:34We can choose truth.
00:36We can choose accountability.
00:38And we can choose to build a country where no one, no matter how wealthy, connected, or politically insulated, stands
00:44above the law.
00:46Today, we are here proudly representing our sister, Virginia Roberts-Dufresne.
00:49Today, standing with members of Congress and with survivors across the nation and across the world,
00:57because Virginia's story is the story so many survivors know too well,
01:01a mountain of obstacles that seem impossible to climb, pain so deep it doesn't fit into words,
01:12and a system that too often makes the survivor carry the burden instead of the perpetrator.
01:18But I am here to say proudly and with absolute conviction that what Virginia did for this world will not
01:25be in vain.
01:31She may have left this earth,
01:38but her soul is still here.
01:41It lives in every survivor who decides to speak.
01:45It lives in every victim who is still finding their voice.
01:49And it lives in every person who refuses to accept a country where exploitation is met with impunity.
01:56Virginia did not just survive.
01:57She fought.
01:59She pushed back against a culture of silence.
02:02She forced the world to look at what it wanted to ignore.
02:05And she proved what happens when an ordinary person decides they will not be erased.
02:14So today, I invite the world into this community, not as spectators, but as participants.
02:22Because on days like this,
02:26we may hear powerful voices try to distract us,
02:29to divide us, to turn accountability into politics,
02:32and truth into a talking point.
02:35But I want to speak directly to the families and communities watching.
02:38The brothers, the mothers, the sisters, and the fathers.
02:43Every person who loves someone who has been harmed.
02:46Choose unity.
02:48Choose love.
02:51And choose the courage it takes to stand with survivors,
02:54not only when it is easy, but when it is expensive,
02:57when it is uncomfortable,
02:58and when it challenges powerful people.
03:02Virginia had a deep passion for bringing people together.
03:05She had a deep love for her survivor sisters.
03:09And she had a deep love for the millions of victims and survivors around the world
03:12who may never be known by name,
03:16and whose lives matter just the same.
03:18To say she trailblazed through obstacles is an understatement.
03:22Virginia helped build a road for survivors to walk
03:25toward truth, toward dignity, toward justice.
03:28And we are here today to carry her torch down that road.
03:32We are asking Congress, the public,
03:35and every institution with the power to act,
03:37to carry that torch with us.
03:39And that brings me to why we are here.
03:41Not only to speak, but to demand action.
03:44If we truly believe survivors deserve more than sympathy,
03:47if we truly believe justice should not depend on status,
03:50then we must put it into law.
03:53That is why we are calling on Congress to advance Virginia's law.
03:58Virginia's law is about saying clearly
04:00that the rules that protected abusers and traffickers for decades
04:03will no longer stand.
04:05It is about closing the gaps that powerful people exploit.
04:08It is about strengthening accountability
04:10so survivors are not forced to fight alone for years
04:13against the machine built to wear them down.
04:16It is not vengeance.
04:17It is not protection.
04:18It is prevention.
04:20And it is justice.
04:22And to anyone who thinks this moment can be reduced
04:25to a headline or a media cycle
04:26or even a Super Bowl moment for political theater,
04:30let me be clear.
04:32The only thing more powerful than hate is love.
04:36And this is not going away.
04:38We will not stop until the truth is faced
04:41and justice is pursued for Virginia,
04:43for her survivor sisters,
04:44and for every victim and survivor around the world
04:47who deserves to know that their lives are worth more
04:50than someone else's reputation.
04:54We are here today as survivors
04:56and as the families of survivors
04:57of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
05:00We are here as the family of Virginia Roberts-Dufresne.
05:04My name is Skye Roberts,
05:05and I am the brother of Virginia Roberts-Dufresne.
05:08Pam, I have a clear and simple message for you.
05:12The way this administration and you specifically
05:14have handled survivors has been nothing short of a failure.
05:18I have a message from Annie Farmer.
05:20She's not here today, but I love her to death.
05:22Believe that.
05:23And she said,
05:24Pam, do your job.
05:27Do your job, Pam.
05:29And I feel that.
05:31There are serious questions that demand answers.
05:34Why are the perpetrators' names being redacted
05:36while survivors' names are left unredacted?
05:39We are done with excuses.
05:41We are done with delays.
05:43No more lies.
05:44No more deflection.
05:45We want answers, and we want accountability.
05:49Virginia was not a headline.
05:51She was a daughter, a sister, a mother, and a human being.
06:00She carried what was done to her for years
06:03and still chose to fight,
06:05not just for herself, but for others
06:07who were afraid or silenced.
06:11And we need to say this plainly.
06:13The handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case
06:16has been mismanaged again and again
06:18across administrations,
06:21across agencies,
06:22and across years.
06:24That failure is not abstract.
06:26It has caused real, lasting damage to survivors,
06:29and that is not up for debate.
06:33We are here to see whether our representatives
06:36will stand with survivors,
06:37not with excuses,
06:39not with delay,
06:40not with political convenience.
06:43We are here to see whether you will ask
06:45the hard questions
06:46that have been avoided for far too long.
06:49My name is Sky Roberts,
06:51and I am the brother of Virginia Roberts-Jufres.
06:54I am deeply honored to stand here today
06:58alongside some of the most extraordinary people
07:00you will ever meet,
07:02including World Without Exploitation,
07:04Congressman Chuck Schumer,
07:08Congresswoman Teresa Ledger-Fernandez,
07:11survivors of Jeffrey Epstein,
07:13and the legendary Sigrid McCauley.
07:15No.
07:36I want to begin with a single word,
07:40a word that meant everything to my sister,
07:44a word we will not stop fighting for
07:46until real justice is served,
07:49and that word is change.
07:53Virginia's dream was to inspire
07:54and empower survivors to come forward.
07:57In a world that too often turns away from abuse
08:01and pushes it into the shadows,
08:03she wanted to bring light.
08:05That light is change.
08:09Virginia's dream was to inspire
08:10and empower survivors to come forward.
08:16One of the main missions of her nonprofit, SOAR,
08:19was to eliminate the statute of limitations
08:21on adult sex trafficking.
08:23She talked about it all the time
08:25while elevating the voices of survivors
08:28alongside her publicist and dear friend,
08:30Deanie von Ruffling.
08:33Today, we give Virginia her voice back.
08:36We amplify the voices of survivors around the world.
08:41Today, we send a clear message
08:42to perpetrators everywhere
08:44by introducing Virginia's law.
08:46We are introducing Virginia's law
08:49because survivors deserve justice,
08:51not expiration dates.
08:54Change must mean justice,
08:57not someday, not in speeches,
09:00not in private settlements,
09:02justice in law,
09:04justice in court,
09:06and justice in the form of consequence.
09:10Virginia's law is more than legislation.
09:12It is a change in the truest form.
09:16It challenges how we see,
09:18how we confront,
09:19and how we respond to sexual abuse
09:21and sex trafficking,
09:23not just in theory,
09:25but in reality.
09:28We do not take this moment lightly.
09:31We are holding an overwhelming mix
09:33of grief, loss, and pride.
09:36And if our voices shake
09:38and our tears fall,
09:40it is only because
09:41of the depth of our love
09:42for our sister.
09:45Grief without action
09:47is another kind of silence.
09:49And Virginia did not survive
09:50what she survived
09:51just to be silenced again.
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