Sexual assault can happen to anybody, anywhere, no matter their age, race, gender or sexual orientation. Often, when speaking about sexual abuse at any age, the main focus falls on sexual assault on women and girls. In reality, the same can happen to men and boys....
Childhood Sex Abuse
Reviewing statistics on sexual abuse involving children
Whether you suffered sexual abuse as a child or you are the parent of a child who has experienced this trauma, it is important to know that you are not alone. Sadly, many children continue to suffer, and it is also important to go over the different ways that sexual...
New Jersey Catholic diocese settles child sexual abuse lawsuit for $87.5 million
In one of the largest settlements of its kind in American history, the diocese of Camden, New Jersey, has settled around 300 claims that its priests sexually abused clergy members when they were children. The settlement figure, $87.5 million, is one of the highest...
What duty does a school have to protect its children from abuse?
Kamehameha School is one of the most prestigious K-12 schools in Hawaii. It has a proud legacy of serving underprivileged children of Hawaiian descent since 1887. However, the #metoo movement sparked a recent lawsuit against the school, which sheds light on its...
What can I recover for my child in a civil lawsuit for sexual assault?
When a child suffers at the hands of a sexual abuser, it is devastating both for the child and for his or her parents. Such events often leave physical and psychological injuries that can accompany the child for the rest of their life and have lasting consequences...
Can I still sue my childhood abuser?
There are no words to describe how traumatic and unfair childhood sexual abuse is. If you experienced sexual abuse as a child, you must know that you may still be able to hold your abuser responsible in criminal and civil court. By filing a lawsuit in civil court, you...
3 myths about childhood sexual abuse
The betrayal of innocence, the lost childhood and a lifetime of mental anguish are too much for any child to bear. You may never think about sexual abuse unless it happens to you or someone you know, but it may become an issue you do not want to ignore when it happens...
How to respond if your child discloses abuse
Learning that your child is the victim of sexual abuse is a parent's worst nightmare. And when your child discloses abuse to you, the flood of emotion can make it seem impossible to know how to respond. In this painful moment, the things a parent does or says will be...
How theology, mind control and systems of power feed into sexual abuse
Sexual abuse of children is shockingly widespread in the very institutions that are supposed to protect the most vulnerable. In the Catholic Church alone, thousands of allegations of sex abuse have surfaced in recent years. And it's far from the only religious...
How do sexual abusers get away with it?
The last few decades have been an awakening for our nation: An awakening to the devastatingly pervasive reality of childhood sexual abuse and its lifelong impact on survivors. The Catholic Church has been among the worst institutional offenders. For decades – if not...