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A sexual assault can have a devastating impact on a survivor. Their entire life may take a different course after the assault.
While criminal prosecution can punish the assailant, it is not effective in securing full justice for survivors. More satisfaction may be available with help from a personal injury lawyer under the tort system. Our Victoria sexual assault injury lawyers can help you reclaim your power, hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions, and gain peace of mind.
People sometimes suffer physical injuries when they are sexually assaulted, but the most severe damage is often to the psyche. In the immediate aftermath of the assault, survivors often experience shame, anxiety, insomnia, depression, and other debilitating emotional conditions.
Over the longer term, many survivors have trouble finding and maintaining healthy intimate relationships. Addiction disorders are also common among sexual assault survivors, and sometimes these issues can interfere with educational, professional, and personal success.
Many sexual assault survivors never contact law enforcement, and even when they do, justice is often elusive. However, the law provides a way for a survivor to hold their attacker financially liable for the consequences of the assault. The legal professionals in our Victoria office provide effective and compassionate representation for survivors seeking financial compensation after a sexual assault.
A survivor can bring a lawsuit against an individual, an institution, or both. Tragically, systemic sexual abuse in institutions like schools, hospitals, youth custody centres, and churches was widespread in the past and continues today. Our Victoria lawyers can help a survivor of institutional abuse hold the wrongdoers, and the institutions that enabled them, accountable.
One of the insidious aspects of sexual assault is how long it takes many survivors to come to terms with what happened. It is not unusual for a survivor to repress the memory, especially if it happened when they were very young. Even mature adults who were subjected to sexual abuse often require many years and substantial support before they can process their experience. The law recognizes this fact.
British Columbia’s Limitation Act S.3(1)(j) specifically exempts claims related to sexual assault from any statute of limitations. This means that survivors can bring an action seeking compensation for the consequences of sexual misconduct perpetrated on them at any time, even decades after the abuse occurred.
Survivors are sometimes concerned that they have no evidence the assault occurred, particularly if it happened in the distant past. The burden of proof in a civil action for compensation is far less burdensome than it would be if a survivor were pursuing criminal charges. Individual perpetrators and institutions are often eager to settle these cases, and our litigators in Victoria can sometimes achieve a positive result with the survivor’s own story and proof of the sexual assault’s impact on them.
Obtaining financial compensation cannot undo the past, but it can provide a survivor some much-needed accountability. Damages can also help a survivor pay for the support they need to overcome what happened.
Sexual assault often impacts a survivor’s ability to excel in their academic or professional capacity. Pecuniary damages can compensate a survivor for the impact the assault had on their past, present, and future ability to earn a living. The cost of mental health treatment, psychological counseling, and medications are included in a survivor’s pecuniary damages.
Non-pecuniary damages are compensation for the harms that have no price tag. A survivor can receive non-pecuniary damages for their emotional distress, difficulty in personal relationships, and loss of other amenities of life. Our Victoria lawyers work closely with survivors to document the impact the sexual assault has had, and may continue to have, on their happiness and well-being.
If you survived a sexual assault, you are entitled to pursue compensation from the perpetrator and any institution that enabled their actions or failed to protect you from harm. Pursuing financial accountability is a practical and empowering way to come to terms with what happened to you.
Our firm of skilled and compassionate litigators has been in business for more than five years and knows what it takes to achieve legal success. Reach out to us today to learn more about how you can seek accountability by working with our sexual assault injury lawyers in Victoria.