Therapeutic Consequences of Civil Actions for Damages and Compensation Claims by Victims of Sexual Abuse - An Empirical Study

Abstract

The article report the results from a study about how survivors of sexual abuse experience the legal system when they make claims from compensation. In particular, the authors tried to evaluate the processes within a therapeutic context drawn largely from the work of Judith Herman. The authors interviewed eighty-seven respondents 98 percent of whom were female. This number included forty-eight participants who had filed compensation claims with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Ontario; thirteen Canadian litigants who had commenced civil actions for sexual battery; and twenty six participants whose claims were validated under the unique Agreement between the Grandview Survivors Group and the Government of Ontario. Respondents were questioned about what motivated them to initiate the claim for compensation. They were also asked about various aspects of the claiming processes, including the role of the family members, therapists, lawyers and judges; the impact of delay; and the impact of settlement actually obtained. Almost all respondents reported that financial goals had been secondary to therapeutic expectations. Most reported significant therapeutic consequences, some positive and some negative. The article relies heavily on the actual words used by the survivors to describe their claiming experiences. These are their stories.

Keywords: survivors, sexual abuse, compensation, claims, therapeutic jurisprudence, compensation, Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Ontario, civil actions, sexual battery