Boarding School Abuse

Private School Abuse presents a range of criminal and lurid activities often perpetrated against students by school faculty members, administrators or staff regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack might be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it may involve many assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate encounter with a student, formed by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether heading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

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

In all alleged Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to completely, adequately report the assault to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further failure to research, address and deal completely with the matter increases the effects on the abuse survivor, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media exemplify these failures, including matters where the perpetrator quietly departs the school only to assume working somewhere else in a school environment.

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

In some matters, the abuser may be a personable and popular person, generally thought to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim could feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community has expressed special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, abuse accusations against these predators are frequently met with distrust, disbelief, and resistance from the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and judgment issues which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally anticipated. This creates a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.

All abusers, to varying degrees, use predatory methods that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Following is a list of grooming methods used by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.

Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school situation, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, realizing each student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is identified and selected, these vulnerabilities – like being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, might be systematically leveraged in the following ways:

Trust

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

Isolation

While the grooming progresses, the predator will try to isolate the student. At school, this could mean late get togethers, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to de-sensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other actions that lead to sexual interaction. This may start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to determine the victim’s response to the progression. This will escalate until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
boarding school sexual abuse
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator may try to keep control over the victim and the continuing interaction. The predator will probably try to manipulate the victim by inducing feelings of guilt, or even threats, or use the opposite tactic of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator might continue to exploit the victim by whatever means available to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

While the grooming escalates as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond affirmatively to the actions. The predator, through these well planned and performed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-calibrate and reduce the moral boundaries of the targeted student. Since the victim participated in the re-calibration, she frequently has deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming herself for the incident and hesitant to report it.

Furthermore, beyond the abuse has been revealed, victims of private school abuse are often subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as being bullied, isolation from their peers, or revenge from teachers. Particularly at private schools, where education is stringent, competition can be fierce and social circles small, victims of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to those reactions, many private school abuse survivors who have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse a while later. In either situation, the impact can be significant and lasting.

Some abuse victims deal with from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and keeping healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups might assist survivors get past these effects.

Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse can win financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process 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 story 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 realize that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.