Boarding School Abuse

Boarding School Abuse illustrates a series of criminal and lurid acts often committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault can be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it might include many assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate encounter with a student, spawned by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff 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, that can be made worse by the school’s negligence to provide a safe environment that enabled the attack to occur. Inside the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students might be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This behavior, coupled with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, could lead to varying forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Assault matters, a school administration’s megligence to fully, adequately report the assault to police and other authorities, or its additional failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the matter amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the press highlight these failures, including situations where the attacker quietly departs the school merely to assume employment elsewhere in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Many boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities within a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much closer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This can create both opportunity and cover to the possible abuser and for the predatory behavior.

In some matters, the abuser might be a personable and popular individual, generally thought to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community has expressed special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, attack allegations against these abusers are frequently met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and judgment issues which manifest themselves in oddly friendly relationships with students that are past what are commonly anticipated. This creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the attack.

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

Grooming
Grooming is a main part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school setting, a predator usually works closely with small amounts of students, knowing every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator will first work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to realize as private school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student will start to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim might spend more time with the predator, feeling more comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and affection, the possible victim might receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, presents such as the promise of high marks, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

While the grooming progresses, the predator will work to isolate the potential victim. At school, this might mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one athletic practice sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other actions which lead to sexual interaction. This could begin with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the progression. This will escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator may work to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will likely try to manipulate the victim by inducing feelings of guilt, or possibly threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may continue to exploit the victim by whatever means available to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

While the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will likely respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, from these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-work and reduce the moral boundaries of the victim. Because the victim participated in the re-calibration, he often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.

Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, survivors of boarding school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like bullying, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from administrators. Particularly at private schools, where academics are rigorous, competition can be fierce and social circles small, victims of abuse might be readily isolated and socially abused. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse a while later. In either case, the impact can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups can assist victims overcome those effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could recover financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method of reviewing and responding to the survivor’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 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 assault to justice.