Sexual Abuse

How uncomfortable are college students who have been sexually abused on campus — most often by another student — with reporting details of that violence to campus or law enforcement officials, much less mentioning its occurrence at all? Put another way: How comfortable — that is, how confident — might some sexual abusers in a…

California is a vanguard state for taking the lead on many matters of national importance. Today (and in our immediately following blog post of this week), we take a look at one such matter that is unquestionably significant across the country and most assuredly in need of a broadly purposeful response from authoritative figures and…

Here’s a quasi-truism regarding sexual harassment in the workplace: It is often relegated to something minor in the overall scheme of unwanted sexual contact, where obvious and explicit acts of sexual assault and other forms of abuse command more attention. That is the wrong view to take, of course, given that harassing sexual behavior aimed…

Often there are warning signs that sexual abuse of a child has occurred or could occur. In many cases, perpetrators exhibit red flags that someone notices. If a person reports signs of sexual abuse or possible sexual abuse, then employers and other people in a position of authority have an obligation to follow up on…

Stories abound in the media about six civil suits alleging rape, sexual assault and economic harm filed against California-based celebrity yoga guru Bikram Choudhury by former students. The allegations describe a pattern that is common in rape and sexual assault cases: the ability of someone with power – mental, spiritual, physical or economic – over…

In one of our recent posts, we discussed an ongoing lawsuit brought by the family of a young woman who was killed while riding her bicycle in San Francisco. The police investigation turned out to be lacking; the driver involved in the accident wasn’t charged; and the family decided to bring a civil claim of…