Boarding School Abuse

Boarding School Abuse illustrates a wide-range of criminal and lurid actions commonly committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack might be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it might include several assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an continuing intimate encounter with a student, created by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether leading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional form of abuse, which can be made worse by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that enabled the assault to occur. Within the school community are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students might be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. Their actions, coupled with peer-pressure exerted on both the predator and the targeted victim, can lead to varying types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all reported Boarding School Abuse situations, 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 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 highlight these failures, including situations when the attacker quietly leaves the campus merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Most private schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and safe campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could create both opportunity and cover for the would-be abuser and for the predatory behavior.

In some situations, the attacker could be a likeable and popular individual, generally considered to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim could feel flattered that a well-liked superior in the school community has expressed special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and involvement in the school community, attack accusations against these abusers are frequently met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance from the community. Frequesntly, abusers have boundary and judgment issues which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory path and opportunity for the abuse.

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

Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school situation, a predator often works closely with small amounts of students, realizing every student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a victim is identified and chosen, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following ways:

Trust

A predator might first work to get the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to see as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the attacker is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellbeing and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student will start to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is exploiting 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 might receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts such as the promise of higher grades, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is mainly when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this might mean after-hour meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , 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 could start with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. abused at boarding school might escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is established, the predator will try to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the student by inducing feelings of guilt, or possibly threats, or employ the opposite tactic of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may keep trying to exploit the victim with means necessary to keep the immoral physical relationship.

Impacts on Abuse Victims

While the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the actions. The predator, through these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral boundaries of the targeted student. Since the victim participated in the re-calibration, he frequently has deep feelings of guilt, 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 subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like bullying, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from staff. Especially at private schools, where academics are rigorous, competition can be fierce and social circles small, survivors of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse victims that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse years later. In either case, the impact can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and keeping healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups may assist survivors get past these effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could recover financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the abuse, 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 review your situation and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to speak with you. It’s important for a survivor to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.