Boarding School Abuse

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

Student-on-student sexual assault is another form of abuse, which might be made worse by the school’s negligence to provide a safe environment that enabled the attack to happen. Inside the school community are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students may be exposed to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This behavior, along with peer-pressure applied to both the attacker and the targeted victim, may lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all reported Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to fully, immediately report the assault to law enforcement and other authorities, or its additional negligence to research, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the press highlight these failures, including times where the attacker quietly departs the campus merely to assume employment elsewhere in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Most boarding schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and secure 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 setting. This may create both opportunity and cover for the would-be abuser and for the predatory behavior.

In some situations, the abuser may be a personable and popular person, generally thought to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted victim could feel flattered that a well-liked superior in the school community is expressing special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, abuse accusations against these predators are frequently met with doubt, disbelief, and resistance from 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 creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the attack.

All abusers, to varying amounts, employ predatory tactics that are generally referred to 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 student.

Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school setting, a predator usually works closely with small amounts of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a victim is located and chosen, these vulnerabilities – such as being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, might be systematically exploited in the following ways:

Trust

A predator could initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to see as private 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 wellness and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student will start to rely more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim may spend more time with the predator, feeling more and more comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and kindness, the potential victim might receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, presents such as the promise of higher marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming progresses, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this might mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dormitory , one-on-one athletic practice sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This may begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This might increase until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator may try to keep control of the victim and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably try to manipulate the student by introducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or use the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may keep trying to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.

Impacts on Abuse Victims

When the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond positively to the actions. The predator, through these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-work and reduce the moral confines of the victim. Since the abuse survivor participated in this re-calibration, she often has deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and hesitant to report it.

Furthermore, beyond the abuse has been reported, survivors of boarding school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as bullying, isolation from their peers, or revenge from teachers. Especially at boarding schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse may be rapidly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to those 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 situation, the impact can be severe and life-altering.

Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble establishing and keeping healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups may help victims overcome these effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse may recover financial compensation from the predator and more commonly, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially review your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to speak with you. It is important for a survivor to remember that experiencing assault is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.