Claim compensation for childhood sexual abuse

It's a tragic fact that not everyone is provided with a safe and nurturing environment by family members or other adults and institutions in their lives.

If you have experienced sexual abuse as an adult or a child, even if it was a long time ago, we can quickly tell you if you are entitled to compensation and help you make a claim.

You can speak to our experienced solicitors in complete confidence and with no obligation. If you decide to proceed with a claim, we will support you through the whole process. Please contact Sam or Rob for an initial consultation. 

Sexual abuse by a family member or friend

Most childhood sexual abuse takes place within the family, and the survivor often knows the identity of the parent, relative, friend or neighbour that sexually abused them. The difficulty with sexual abuse within the family is that the survivor often feels they will not be believed and no means of extricating themselves from their abuser.

One victim spoke of her abuser “like a spider building a web” such was his increasing control of her.  Such is the frequency of this type of sexual abuse that in May 2019, a definition was added for Child Sexual Abuse within the family environment (also known as Intra-familial Child Sexual Abuse).

Sexual abuse which takes place within family environments often remains hidden. It is the most secretive and difficult type of abuse for children and young people to disclose. It may be particularly difficult to disclose abuse by a sibling.  Many children and young people do not initially recognise themselves as victims of sexual abuse, particularly if they have been groomed. A child may not understand what is happening and may not even understand that it is wrong, especially as the perpetrator will seek to reduce the risk of disclosure by threatening them, telling them they will not be believed or holding them responsible for their own abuse.

Reporting childhood sexual abuse

Usually, it is many years after the abuse that the survivor tells anyone. The trigger point might occur when the survivor has her own children.  Reporting historical childhood abuse to the police brings its own problems, and some survivors feel guilty if the abuser is a father or close friend or relative.

Bringing a claim for sexual abuse compensation so many years later also brings its own unique problems. By then, all trace of the abuse may be gone and the perpetrator dead. There may not be a police investigation and the perpetrator may not have been convicted. Even if there is good evidence of the abuse, it may not be possible to trace the perpetrator and they may not have any money to pay compensation.

Claiming against the Perpetrator's Estate

For understandable reasons victims who have been sexually abused in childhood may wait until their abuser has died before reporting their experiences.

Just as a claim for compensation may be made against an abuser, so a claim for compensation may be made against an abuser’s estate if the abuser has died.

It is important to act quickly once the abuser has died. Normally an estate is distributed to beneficiaries within 6 to 12 months of death. Sometimes it can be earlier. Once a distribution of estate assets to beneficiaries has occurred then a claim against the estate is unlikely to result in the payment of compensation.

If the estate has sufficient assets to pay compensation and the abuse can be shown to have taken place, then there is no reason why the victim should not be compensated out of the estate.

We have developed considerable expertise in suing estates of deceased abusers and have obtained 6 figure sums for survivors.

To speak to us on a free, no-obligation basis about your sexual abuse compensation claim against a family member, friend or neighbour, please contact Sam direct on sam@robsonshaw.uk or Robert on robert@robsonshaw.uk.