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The Effects of Sexual Abuse

The New York Injury Law Firm of Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine offers aggressive legal counsel to those who have been injured due to no fault of their own. We have focused a significant portion of our practice towards helping victims of child abuse and child molestation. If you or a loved one is recovering from an episode of child abuse or child molestation, contact Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine for a free legal consultation today.

There is probably no crime that is more repulsive and damaging than child molestation. Even after the period of abuse ends, the victim can remain effected for years, or even decades. Victims of child molestation can go through a seemingly endless cycle of mental and emotional trauma.

Some of the more common consequences of sexual abuse are:

Social Problems: Victims of sexual abuse often feel a lack of confidence in themselves or a lack of trust in other people. This can inhibit their ability to seek employment or maintain real relationships with others.

Psychological Damage: Often, victims of sexual or physical abuse suffer from nightmares, anxieties and phobias. Difficulties in getting to sleep and nightmares when the victim does sleep is another problem.

Victims can also suffer from irritability, sudden outbursts of anger, or sometime violent reactions to being touched. A lack of a sense of worth can result in extremely harmful behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution or other self destructive behaviors.

Sexual Problems: Since the origin of so much of the average victim’s trauma is sexual in nature, it comes as no surprise that victims of sexual abuse go through so many sexual problems. There is often an inability to have a normal sexual relationship or indeed even any sexual relations at all.

Eating Disorders: Traumatic experiences can manifest themselves in all sorts of ways, and often it can result in bulimia, anorexia, or overeating.

Depression: This is one of the more common ways that a traumatic event manifests itself. It can cause social withdrawal, lack of sleep, and a feeling of worthlessness.

Any of all of these problems are certainly treatable, but it takes time and unfortunately money. And in the meantime, these manifestations of early abuse can cause havoc and adversely affect the lives of the victims.

People who suffer sexual molestation have more options than they may believe. Even if the perpetrator was caught and sent to jail, there are many cases where the environment or circumstances helped contribute directly to the abuse.

For instance, if a headmaster at a school is aware of a situation where children are being abused and covers it up rather than notifies the police, this person directly contributed to the abuse. If a doctor or medical professional sees signs of abuse and doesn’t report it, he or she has helped contribute to the abuse taking place. If a relative or friend of the abuser knows about the abuse and does nothing to stop it, then this person has helped to contribute to the abuse taking place.

At Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine, we take a real interest in the lives of those who have suffered from sexual abuse. We believe that the crime of sexual abuse is incredibly heinous, and that the victims should receive not just treatment, but financial compensation for the trauma that they gone through. It is not enough to just give the victims an apology and hope that they go away. We believe that victims of sexual abuse deserve compensation for their suffering, and we do our best to see that they get it.

If you or a loved one has been sexually abused, contact the law offices of Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine for a free legal consultation today.