Abuse Survivors Blog

Last month, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein finally handed himself in to the New York authorities, charged with rape and several other counts of sexual abuse. He is the subject of multiple complaints by dozens of women ranging from rape to sexual harassment over many years. 

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was set up by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, after apparent institutional failures surrounding non-recent child sexual abuse.

Every year a significant number of workers are made ill and/or injured at work. According to statistics released by the Health & Safety Executive :

• 137 workers were killed at work
• 31.2 million working days were lost due to work-related ill-health and non-fatal workplace injuries
• 1.3 million work-related ill-health cases

Here at Emmott Snell, we've observed first-hand what a challenge it can be to express oneself and carry the weight of an emotional burden. While we learn to develop a professional resilience, it can be frustrating to see a client so close to legal justice, yet so far from battling their emotional demons.

Our client (referred to as Miss M to protect her identity) has been successful in her claim against her former school in respect of grooming and sexual assaults committed against her by a teacher between c. June and August 2013.

On Tuesday 8 May 2018 May, Tracey Emmott and Jacqui Morton of Emmott Snell had the pleasure of visiting and meeting with representatives of Victim Support, Bedfordshire at their offices at Bedford Heights.

The purpose of our visit was to find out more about the services that Victim Support offer, and to present a cheque for £415.63 that we raised by participating in the 2017 sponsored Bedford Legal Walk.

Sexual abuse in childhood by a person in authority is the ultimate betrayal.  

Often that person represents an institution and may be a religious leader such as a priest or imam, a teacher, a Scout leader or a sports coach.

Where the abuser is acting in two capacities at the same time, a civil compensation claim may be directed against two organisations.  

The most common and significant effect of childhood sexual abuse is psychological rather than physical harm.

When a child suffers sexual abuse and has not been able to disclose it for various reasons they can go into adulthood with mental health difficulties, simply because it has not been possible for them to process the traumatic events that have happened to them.

This week, a representative of Emmott Snell Solicitors attended the annual APIL conference . 

The theme of the 2018 conference was ‘Securing justice for a modern society’, aimed at preparing personal injury practitioners for the year ahead. APIL is a non-profit making organisation that has been campaigning and fighting for the rights of injured people for over 25 years.

It is common knowledge that the English legal system is not overly sympathetic to adults seeking justice for childhood sexual abuse in the civil courts. The law in England and Wales is such that time to bring a civil compensation claim expires on the 21^st birthday of anyone who was sexually abused as a child.