Boarding School Abuse

Boarding School Abuse illustrates a series of illegal and improper acts often committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or staff involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault might 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, created by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether leading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student-on-student sexual assault is another form of abuse, that can be made worse by the school’s negligence to offer a safe environment that enabled the assault to happen. Inside the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be subjected to the predatory behavior of older, more experienced students. Their behavior, along with peer-pressure exerted on both the attacker and the targeted victim, can lead to varying types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Assault matters, a school administration’s megligence to completely, adequately report the crime to police and other authorities, or its further negligence to research, address and deal fully with the situation increases the effects on the abuse survivor, the school community and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the press exemplify these failures, including times when the perpetrator quietly leaves the school merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Many private schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside 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 situation. This could create both opportunity and cover for the would-be attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some situations, the abuser might be a personable and popular person, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, abuse allegations against these criminals are frequently met with doubt, non-belief, and resistance from the community. Often, abusers have boundary and morality issues which turn into unusually friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.

All abusers, to differing degrees, employ predatory tactics that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below 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 ploy. In a boarding school situation, a predator often works closely with small numbers of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator will initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to see as private school communities are often 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 creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student might begin to count on more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The student will spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and affection, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts like the promise of higher marks, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dormitory , one-on-one sports training sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other actions that lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the progression. This could escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator will try to keep control of the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the student by introducing emotions of guilt, or possibly threats, or use 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 available to maintain the immoral physical relationship.

Impacts on Abuse Victims

When the grooming increases as planned by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well-thought-out 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, he often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.

Additionally, after the abuse has been reported, victims of private school abuse are often subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, alienation from their peers, or retaliation from staff. Especially at private schools, where education is rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse can be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to such reactions, many private school abuse victims who have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse years later. In either case, the legacy 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 feelings, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble establishing and keeping healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups might assist victims overcome those effects.

Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse could receive 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 negligence 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 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 victim to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.