Experiencing sexual exploitation can leave survivors feeling vulnerable, unsafe, and overwhelmed. Civil lawsuits allow survivors to hold abusers accountable and pursue justice. At Andreozzi + Foote, our attorneys use their extensive experience to pursue accountability while supporting survivors’ emotional well-being and recovery throughout the process. Contact us today to learn more about your legal options.
What Is the Legal Definition of Sexual Exploitation?
Sexual exploitation occurs when someone abuses a position of trust, power, or vulnerability for sexual purposes, including profiting financially, socially, or politically from the abuse. Laws vary by jurisdiction, but statutes addressing sexual abuse and related offenses typically cover these cases.
Types of Sexual Exploitation
Sexual exploitation is a type of sexual abuse that includes a wide range of non-consensual and manipulative behaviors, such as the following:
- Sex trafficking: Forcing or coercing someone into commercial sex acts
- Child sexual exploitation: Producing or distributing child sexual abuse material, grooming, or using sexual coercion
- Exploitation by authority figures: Therapists, doctors, clergy, employers, or teachers abusing positions of power
- Non-consensual pornography: Revenge porn, secretly recorded intimate images, or sextortion
- Financial or economic sexual exploitation: Coercing sexual acts for housing, employment, or immigration benefits
- Workplace sexual exploitation: Quid pro quo harassment or creating a hostile environment with sexual demands
Vulnerable individuals—such as children, older adults, incarcerated people, and those with developmental disabilities—are often targeted in sexual abuse cases. Offenders frequently hold positions of trust or authority, but they can also be acquaintances or others familiar to the survivor.
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Sexual Exploitation Case?
The person who directly committed the abuse is usually held liable in sexual exploitation cases, but others may also be held responsible if they benefited from the abuse or if they were negligent in preventing the abuse.
Other parties who may be held accountable include the following:
- Employers, supervisors, and managers can be responsible if they were negligent in hiring, supervising, or training an employee who committed the abuse.
- Institutions and organizations, such as schools, daycares, churches, youth sports leagues, and camps, can be responsible if they fail to protect individuals from abuse by employees, volunteers, or other members.
- Other third parties, including tech companies, property owners, hotels and motels, and online platforms, may be held responsible for their involvement or negligence, depending on the specific circumstances.
Holding multiple parties accountable can increase survivors’ compensation and provide resources to support healing. At our firm, we dedicate our work to ensuring that enabling institutions are held responsible.
Types of Compensation Available for Sexual Exploitation Survivors
Civil lawsuits provide a way for survivors to seek compensation and hold abusers and the institutions that enabled abuse accountable. Survivors of sexual exploitation may seek compensation for various financial damages, including:
- Medical and therapy costs: Past and future costs for counseling, psychiatric care, medication, and recovery programs
- Lost income and opportunities: Includes lost educational and career opportunities resulting from the harm
- Emotional distress, pain, and suffering: Covers the physical, emotional, and psychological trauma, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Other expenses: Relocation, school changes, long-term support, and other disruptions linked to the abuse
In some cases, courts may award punitive damages to hold institutions accountable for egregious misconduct and deter future abuse.
Factors Affecting Compensation Amount
Several factors can affect the compensation survivors may receive, including the following:
- Nature, severity, and duration of the abuse: More severe or prolonged abuse often results in higher compensation.
- Survivor’s age at time of the abuse: Abuse of children is usually considered more serious because of its potential long-term effects on development.
- Physical and psychological impact: Long-term emotional, physical, and mental health consequences are taken into account.
- State laws: Laws vary by state, affecting deadlines for filing and eligibility for state victim compensation funds.
- Strength and availability of evidence: Strong evidence or supporting testimony can increase the potential for recovery.
- Defendant’s ability to pay: Compensation may be limited by available insurance or the defendant’s financial ability to pay.
Cases involving large organizations, such as schools, religious institutions, or national youth organizations, may result in higher compensation due to the availability of insurance, settlement funds, and systemic failures.
Legal Rights and Options for Victims
Survivors can report abuse to law enforcement, which will likely trigger an investigation and may result in prosecutors filing criminal charges. Survivors may also be eligible to file civil lawsuits against abusers and institutions that allowed the abuse. Civil cases can provide financial compensation for the harm and trauma survivors endured. Consulting a sexual exploitation attorney can guide survivors through deadlines and legal options.
Other relief and protections that may be available to survivors include the following:
- Protective and restraining orders to enhance safety
- State victim compensation funds to recover losses
- Workplace and school anti-retaliation protections
- Immigration relief options for trafficking survivors
How a Sexual Exploitation Lawyer Can Help
At Andreozzi + Foote, our lawyers provide comprehensive representation to survivors that includes the following services:
- We provide confidential case evaluations, creating a safe space for sharing experiences and exploring legal options.
- We’ll identify responsible parties and all potential sources of compensation to secure what survivors are entitled to.
- We’ll calculate the full value of the claims, including the medical bills, therapy costs, and emotional trauma.
- We handle all the legal details so survivors can focus on recovery.
- We protect survivors’ privacy by keeping sensitive information secure.
- We guide survivors through the civil justice system, explaining their rights and options clearly and advocating for their best interests throughout.
- We’ll negotiate for a full and fair settlement that reflects the full impact of abuse.
- We’ll litigate your case and fight for you at trial, if necessary.
- We operate on a contingency fee basis, so survivors pay nothing unless we recover compensation for them.
Our attorneys handle even the most complex sexual abuse cases nationwide. They are familiar with the applicable state laws and know how to hold offenders and institutions accountable, while supporting survivors throughout the process.
Call Our Sexual Exploitation Attorneys for a Free Case Consultation
Survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse do not need to navigate the aftermath alone. At Andreozzi + Foote, our sexual abuse lawyers guide survivors and families through the legal process with care and experience. We strive to achieve the best possible legal outcome while respecting each survivor’s unique healing journey.
Contact us online or call 866-311-8640 today for a free, confidential, and no-obligation consultation.