What is Sexual Exploitation?
Sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual and/or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a person into sexual activity. The power imbalance can be due to a range of factors such as gender, physical strength or access to economic or other resources.
Does there have to be physical contact?
Sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur without the person’s immediate knowledge i.e. through the use of technology.
Sexual abuse may involve physical contact including assault or non-contact activities, such as the production of sexual images or forcing someone to act in a sexually inappropriate way.
The exploitation usually occurs in exchange for something such as needs or wants and can include tangible (i.e. money or alcohol) and intangible rewards (i.e perceived receipt of love or affection).
Who can I make a claim against?
When a person has used their position to abuse a person, an abuse claim may be brought against the organisation that employed that individual.
A claim may also be brought against the individual who abused you and we will consider whether this is possible in your case. We’ll send a letter to the organisation and/or individual setting out the details of your claim.
They will then investigate your claim and let us know whether they accept responsibility.
We will also advise you regarding your eligibility for Criminal Injuries Compensation which is a government funded scheme set up to compensate innocent victims of violent crime.