Do you think your child may be the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of someone you have trusted, such as a partner, family member, priest, neighbor, or even a teacher? While it is not always easy to get children to speak about things that are going on, especially if they are afraid of…
When you send your child to school, you expect them to learn in a comfortable, safe environment with teachers and support staff members who care about the success of each child. While this is true for the most part, some teachers or school staff members may use their power to gain control over others, including…
A company in Brooklyn has recently released a DIY rape kit, with the goal of enabling survivors to take and submit their own DNA samples. The MeToo Kits are supposedly designed to prevent victims from feeling like they are being victimized all over again. They are also a terrible idea. Rape is both physically and…
Bill Cosby, once a respected comedian, television actor, and public speaker, has since been sentenced to 3-10 years in prison for committing sexual offenses. In an era of Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer, or #MeToo and #WhyIDidntReport, it is easy to forget that Cosby’s crimes once dominated the headlines. Over and over again, we heard…
“Consent” is the agreement between two people to engage in whatever sexual behaviors they want. Theoretically and ethically, this is a simple thing. But the reality is that there are gray areas in the laws, and those shades of gray can make it incredibly difficult for victims of sexual assault to get the justice they…
The California Healthy Youth Act, which has been in place since 2016, provides “integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased sexual health and HIV prevention instruction” for public school students. Erin Prangley, associate director of government relations for the American Association of University Women, told EdSource that “Many school cultures trivialize harassment, tolerate language that degrades girls…
The essence of a punitive damage claims is to punish someone who’s wrongs are unconscionable, so they don’t harm anyone else. The payment of punitive damages is paid to the injured plaintiff. A punitive damage claim in any type of case requires more than a showing of carelessness or negligence. In California, the defendant must…
Larry Nassar, George Tyndall, James Heaps, Bayard Allmond and countless other physicians have faced the legal and professional consequences of sexual misconduct against patients most of whom were young and vulnerable. A story in the Los Angeles Times reports that since the fall of 2017, complaints against California physicians have increased by 62%. Those numbers…
In what seems to be the silver lining in the dark cloud that was the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment claims and the rise of the #MeToo movement, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that in 2018, sexual harassment claims increased by 13.6% over the previous year, while the total number of complaints of workplace…
The Washington Post recently reported that a Boy Scout identified as S.D., was sexually assaulted hundreds of times by a scout leader. The incidents happened in the 1970s in Pennsylvania. A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the plaintiff against the Boy Scouts, the Penn Mountains Council, and the alleged abuser. It is one…