Where does abuse happen?

Child abuse and adult abuse can happen anywhere, including in your own home by someone you trust. Perpetrators tend to look for circumstances where they may be able to abuse their target without getting caught – or where they have access to a high number of people that they can abuse.

This means there are some places where abuse is more likely to happen, simply because it’s more favourable to the criminals who engage in this behaviour. So, where does abuse occur most often? Below is a short outline of some of the places where perpetrators are most prolific:

• Child Abuse in Schools: Schools should be a safe place where children can learn, develop and blossom. We have helped make claims against different individuals who abused children in schools, including fellow pupils.
• Child Abuse in Children’s Homes: Children in care are some of the most vulnerable in society. We have acted on behalf of children abused in care homes and gained compensation as well as admissions of liability by the organisations that ran the homes.
• Child Abuse in the Scouts: The Scouts should be a fun, adventurous, skill-building activity group. Instead, some Scout leaders have used their position to abuse the children under their care. We have brought and won more claims against the Scout Association than any other firm in the UK.
• Child Abuse in the Cadets: The Army Cadets, the Air Cadets and the Sea Cadets are all places where children go to build their self-confidence, life skills and future prospects. We can help bring a claim against individuals who abuse children in the Cadets, or against the Ministry of Defence for failing in their responsibilities to protect such children.
• Child Abuse in the Church: We should be able to trust our religious leaders, but some members of the clergy use their position and standing in society to abuse children. We have helped many survivors of such abuse secure compensation, treatment and closure.
• Child Abuse in Sport: Coaches, trainers, talent scouts and other individuals can take advantage of their position and abuse children in a sports environment, including in the football industry. We have successfully helped clients win compensation claims against the individual(s) and organisation(s) responsible.
• Child Abuse by the Police: There are police officers who abuse the standing given to them by their job and uniform.  This can be particularly traumatising as often they are abusing people they were supposed to protect.  The abuse may be sexual, physical and/or exchanging indecent images or messages. We can help you make a claim for compensation if you were abused by an employee of a police force.
• Adult Abuse: Adult abuse takes many forms, including physical and sexual abuse, financial abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exploitation. It can happen anywhere, to any adult, but perpetrators may target vulnerable adults more frequently. We can help win cases against the individual(s) responsible and secure compensation and admissions of responsibility.