Surviving institutional abuse can cause an individual to suffer for years. Those who are subjected to institutional abuse as children or teenagers are at an increased risk of pervasive, ongoing, and potentially life-threatening disorders as a result of someone else’s criminal actions.
For many survivors of childhood institutional abuse, the road to psychological, emotional, and financial recovery can be long, complicated, and expensive. It is not uncommon for survivors of institutional abuse develop alcohol and/or substance abuse disorders as a method of trying to cope with the trauma from their past. Indeed, institutional abuse survivors are 26 times more likely to develop substance use disorders than people who were not subjected to sexual violence in their childhoods or youths.
Additionally, survivors of institutional abuse often develop severe mental health disorders that could require long-term, expensive psychological counseling and psychiatric treatments. These frequently include depression, anxiety, insomnia and other sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Unfortunately, childhood institutional abuse is a widespread societal issue that, according to the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, impacts one in three residents of the province before the age of 18. Most of these children or minors were abused by someone they thought they could trust.
Institutional abuse is, at its core, an abuse of power and trust. If an adult uses their position of authority to gain non-consensual sexual advances, exploits the trust placed in them by a younger or more vulnerable individual, or takes advantage of their target’s dependence upon them to manipulate, blackmail, threaten, or otherwise coerce them into engaging in unwanted sexual activities, they have committed institutional abuse. And they have potentially done profound damage to their target’s future physical, mental, and financial well-being.
Tragically, a large number of institutional abuse survivors suffer in silence for years or even decades before they feel ready to come forward and hold their abusers accountable for their actions. Fortunately, in Alberta, there is no statute of limitations on institutional abuse claims. Therefore, it is never too late for a survivor of institutional abuse to pursue legal action.
Our Canmore institutional abuse lawyers are committed to protecting survivors in the local community and to helping them get the compensation they deserve. By pursuing a civil claim against your abuser and other parties or entities who might have been contributorily negligent (such as the organization that employed them), our institutional abuse lawyers serving Canmore may be able to help you find closure and restitution. To learn more contact us today and receive a free initial consultation on your case.
It can take time, courage, and emotional fortitude to begin asking for help. Whenever you feel ready to speak out about your experience with institutional abuse and learn about options for legal action that may be available to you, consider scheduling a free initial consultation.
During a cost-free, no-obligation, confidential first meeting with our Canmore institutional abuse lawyers, you can share as many or as few details as you see fit and received personalized, case-specific legal feedback. To get started, call our institutional abuse lawyers serving Canmore and schedule your free initial consultation.
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