Sexual abuse occurs when there is undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another, this is also referred to as molestation. It often happens by taking advantage or using force on another. When force is of short duration or immediate, or infrequent it is called sexual assault.

In recent years there have been many sexual abuse allegations against teachers, professors, administrators, coaches, members of the Catholic Church, and others in a position of power within organizations and intuitions. For example…

Schools & Universities:
The University of Michigan (UM) is gathering complaints from former students who were sexually assaulted by Dr. Robert Anderson, a physician employed by UM from 1968 until 2003. More than 100 reports from former student-patients allege that Dr. Anderson engaged in sexual abuse during the time he was employed by UM. There has also been a lawsuit filed recently against the New York School for the Deaf alleging that dorm supervisor Joseph Casucci sexually abused them between 1964 and 1975. There have been recent accusations against a former assistant principal at a high school in New York, leading universities including Yale, Dartmouth, and Ohio State University; and so on and so on.

Catholic Church & non-Catholic clergy:
More than 18,000 survivors have come forward with their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of US Catholic Church clergy. So far dioceses and religious orders have been forced to pay settlements totaling more than $3 billion. In August 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury released a report detailing the widespread cover-up of child sexual abuse across six Catholic dioceses: Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Scranton. There have also been half a dozen lawsuits filed recently against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego accusing now-deceased clergy of sexually abusing 20 men and women decades ago. Lawsuits are being filed by clergy sexual abuse victims in the states of California, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to name a few.

Regrettably, a majority of sexual abuse victims do not report their offenders for a variety of reasons. Sexual abuse survivors are also often reluctant to discuss their abuse – even years later.