Wendy Pesante is a mental health professional andnonprofit founder. She uses her lived experience to promote awareness, accountability and meaningful change.
Roughly 3.5 million pages of files connected to Jeffrey Epstein will land in Ohio today, Oct. 8.
The Trump-Epstein Memorial Reading Roomholds thousands of books containing pages and pages of publicly released Epstein records, printed and bound floor to ceiling, for Ohioans to witness themselves.
For me, this is personal.
I am a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein.
I was only 14 years old. I carried this pain with me for more than 20 years before I chose to speak publicly.
You deserve to know the truth
Ohio is my home. I made a life here, my family is here, and I have worked in the mental health community throughout Columbus for over
a decade.
There is something really strange about seeing the Reading Room come to Columbus.
A part of my life that I kept quiet for so long is being put on display — literally in my backyard. I can't stop thinking about how massive the scale of abuse is. Yet, somehow, 3.5 million pages doesn’t capture it all. We know millions of additional pages still have not been released.
Ohioans deserve to know what is being withheld and why — and more importantly, the survivors deserve answers.
What I want. What the nation needs.
I want the rest of the records that are required by law to be released, and the release must protect survivors and their privacy. I want investigators to finally follow credible leads and launch investigations. I was Congress to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, which would enforce the law and allow survivors, like myself, to access their own unredacted records.
I also urge Ohioans to visit the Reading Room between today, Oct. 8, and Oct. 11 at The Sanctuary on Neil,618 Neil Ave. Admission is free. Time can be reserved attrumpepsteinreadingroom.com.
I hope my representatives, neighbors, colleagues, friends, and strangers alike look at how many books there are and ask how something could get this big. How could this abuse involve so many people and still leave us with so many unanswered questions?
For years I carried the embarrassment and shame alone. This wasn’t mine to carry.
People forget there were actual children in the middle of all of this. While I can't go back and protect the 14-year-old version of myself, I work everyday to make the world better for the future generations.
The fight for justice, transparency, and accountability is not over.
Think about the survivors when you visit the Trump-Epstein Memorial Reading Room
This is not a headline. When folks visit the Reading Room, don't just go looking for a famous person's name. Actually look around. Consider that the survivors’ stories that live within the files are from real people. We are mothers, wives, professionals, advocates, neighbors and friends. Survivors have bravely told their stories publicly, others never will, and some aren't here anymore to tell their stories at all.
What I also hope people — particularly our lawmakers — take away from this is that money, connections, and power cannot matter more than finally doing what’s right. In fact, doing what’s right doesn’t depend on what political party you belong to.
Whether you're a Republican, Democrat or neither — we can all agree that survivors deserve better.
For over two decades, I barely talked about the abuse I endured at the hands of Epstein.
At 36, I finally did.
So when our files make their way to Columbus, I hope people show up. Look at it. Ask questions. Then, join us in demanding answers. We all have a responsibility to help ensure the next 14-year-old girl doesn't have to wait until she's 36 to feel like somebody is finally listening.
Wendy Pesante is a mental health professional and nonprofit founder. She uses her lived experience to promote awareness, accountability and meaningful change.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: I'm an Ohioan and Epstein survivor. I need you to know what happened to us | Opinion
