Boarding School Abuse

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

Student on student sexual assault is an additional type of abuse, that may be made worse by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that allowed the attack to occur. Within the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students may be subjected to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. Their actions, along with peer-pressure applied on both the attacker and the targeted victim, can lead to different types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Assault matters, a school administration’s failure to fully, adequately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the press exemplify these failures, including situations where the perpetrator 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 that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are frequently much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This could provide both opportunity and cover for the would-be attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some situations, the abuser might be a likeable and popular person, generally considered to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim might 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 into the school community, attack accusations against these abusers are often met with doubt, disbelief, and resistance from the community. Often, abusers have distance and morality issues which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.

All abusers, to varying amounts, use predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Following is a compilation of grooming methods exhibited 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 often works closely with small amounts of students, understanding each student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a victim is identified and selected, these vulnerabilities – like being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, may be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator might initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to realize as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction 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 relationship 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 leveraging and fulfilling. The victim will spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to abused at boarding school and kindness, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts like the promise of higher grades, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is mainly where the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator may work to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean after-hour meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other actions that lead to sexual interaction. This could begin with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive language to determine the victim’s reaction to the progression. This could escalate until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator will work to maintain control over the victim and the continuing abuse. The predator will likely try to manipulate the student by introducing emotions of shame, or possibly threats, or use the opposite strategy of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will keep trying to exploit the victim with means necessary to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.

Impacts on Abuse Survivors

While the grooming increases as planned by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, from these well planned and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-calibrate and remove the moral confines of the victim. Since the victim participated in this re-calibration, she frequently experiences deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and likely not 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, alienation from their peers, or revenge from teachers. Especially at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse might be readily isolated and socially abused. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse victims who have reported the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse years later. In either situation, the legacy can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse survivors bear from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble creating and keeping healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups can help victims get past these effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could receive 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 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 story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to talk with you. It’s important for a victim to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those responsible for the abuse to justice.