Boarding School Abuse

Private School Abuse presents a range of illegal and lurid actions often committed on students by school faculty members, administrators or staff regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault can be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it may include several assaults during an continuing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate encounter with a student, spawned by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether leading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional form of abuse, that may be made worse by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that enabled the assault to occur. Within the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students might be exposed to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. Their actions, along with peer-pressure exerted on both the predator and the targeted victim, might lead to different types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Abuse situations, a school administration’s megligence to entirely, immediately report the assault to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further negligence to research, address and deal fully with the situation increases the effects on the victim, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media exemplify these failures, including times when the attacker quietly departs the school merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Many boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In this environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than might be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This may create both opportunity and cover for the would-be attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some matters, the abuser could be a personable and popular person, generally thought to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted student might feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, abuse allegations against these predators are often met with distrust, disbelief, and resistance by the community. Often, abusers have distance and morality issues which manifest themselves in unusually friendly relationships with students that are past what are commonly anticipated. This provides a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.

All abusers, to differing amounts, employ predatory methods that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below is a list of grooming behaviors exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.

Grooming
Grooming is a main part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school setting, a predator often works closely with small amounts of students, realizing each student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a victim is identified and chosen, these vulnerabilities – such as being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically exploited in the following manners:

Trust

A predator might initially work to get the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellbeing and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student might start to count on more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The student might spend more time with the predator, feeling more comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts like the promise of higher grades, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance step is usually when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator may work to isolate the student. At school, this may mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This could start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to determine the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to keep control over the victim and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably try to manipulate the victim by introducing emotions of guilt, or possibly threats, or employ the opposite tactic of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will keep trying to exploit the victim with means necessary to maintain the immoral physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

While the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond affirmatively to the actions. The predator, from these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral boundaries of the targeted student. Since the abuse survivor participated in this re-calibration, she often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming himself for the incident and likely not to report it.

Furthermore, after the abuse has been revealed, victims of boarding school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from staff. Especially at boarding schools, where education is stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse might be readily isolated and socially abused. Subjected to those reactions, many private school abuse victims that have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of the isolation and social persecution, report the abuse years later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse survivors deal with from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups can assist victims overcome these effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could win financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method of reviewing and responding to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your situation and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to speak with you. It’s important for a survivor to remember that experiencing assault is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.