Understanding Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking’s Effects
No doubt you have at least heard of the terms human trafficking or sex trafficking once or twice. These terms conjure up truly terrible images of people that are forced into sexual labor against their will. These images and concepts often may seem like distant problems to many who understand these crimes as headlines or horror stories that affect the fringes of society but they are a disturbing reality that exists much closer to our homes than we realize. Human trafficking is an exploitation of human life that permeates many communities regardless of affluence, geography, or wealth.
Florida Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
Sexual abuse is a widespread crime that causes immense trauma and pain to people across the country and world. These two crimes naturally go hand in hand and cause immense trauma to those that experience them firsthand. This damage to sexual assault and human trafficking survivors can change their lives for worse significantly. These damages deserve compensation from those responsible for them being inflicted in the first place. There are often several parties that may have contributed negligence that helped to allow these crimes to occur and those parties can be found liable in a civil lawsuit.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA specializes in assisting sexual assault survivors to seek compensation for the damages they suffered from liable parties. Sexual assault lawsuits can often prove to be complex with identifying liable parties and calculating damages often proving to be difficult in their own right on top of the legal process itself. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA offers free consultations to those that have suffered sexual abuse and assault as a result of a liable party’s negligence. To schedule your free consultation you can either call our office at (727) 451-6900 or contact us online.
Civil Law vs. Criminal Law
When those that are guilty of sexual abuse and trafficking are brought to justice they are typically prosecuted under criminal law for their illegal actions. Criminal law is concerned with delivering justice to those that are guilty of these crimes by convicting them and sentencing them according to the severity of their crimes typically involving several years of incarceration and hefty fines of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, criminal law is not concerned about restitution for those affected by these crimes aside from the satisfaction of knowing that the perpetrator is being punished according to the law.
On the other hand, civil law deals with violations of personal freedoms and negligence. The primary goal of a civil lawsuit is to recover compensation for the damages that a plaintiff suffered. In order to do this, a plaintiff must prove the negligence of the defendant and that their negligence contributed to the accident that injured them. Unlike in criminal law, the burden of proof is much lower and negligence does not need to be proven beyond all reasonable doubt. Still, convincing evidence is still essential to a case that wants to ensure the best chance of getting compensation from a liable party.
Human Trafficking and Sexual Abuse in Florida
Florida is one of many states that deals with the horrors of human trafficking. In June, law enforcement officials arrested 85 people in a human trafficking sting operation in the Tampa Bay area. After California and Texas, Florida has the most human trafficking cases in the entire country according to the Human Trafficking Hotline. Human trafficking is defined as a form of modern slavery where human beings are traded for labor through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. The majority of people that become victims of human trafficking are forced into some form of commercial sexual labor like prostitution. It is important to note that people from all walks of life have become victims of human trafficking. While human trafficking and sexual abuse are commonly associated with women that come from disadvantaged communities, both sexes are at risk as well as all sexual orientations, and ages.
The Damage Caused by Sexual Slavery
It goes without saying that those that experience sexual abuse through human trafficking suffer immensely both physically and mentally. The psychological damage that comes from being forced into sexual labor can lead to a number of mental health issues such as PTSD, extreme depression, suicidal tendencies, and emotional disorders. Those that suffer through sexual trafficking also can suffer physically due to the tendency for captors to physically assault victims, poor living conditions, as well as the chance to contract sexually transmitted infections. People lose large chunks of their lives where they could have been among loved ones, advancing their career, or seeking higher education.
How Does Someone File a Lawsuit Based on Sexual Trafficking and Abuse?
Determining who is liable for contributing to the suffering caused by human trafficking is key. In many cases, compensation can not be gleaned directly from those convicted of human trafficking because they may not have the financial means to compensate or they are behind bars. It is because of this that many defendants in civil lawsuits over sexual abuse and trafficking are third parties. Premises liability can play a major role since much of human trafficking takes place in locations such as motels and hotels whose negligence resulted in someone’s suffering. Businesses such as spas and massage parlors have also been known to act as sites for human trafficking as well.
Seek an Experienced Florida Sexual Assault Attorney
If you or a loved one have suffered as a result of sexual assault and/or survived sexual trafficking then you are likely able to seek compensation for the damages you suffered through a civil lawsuit. Sexual assault and human trafficking affect not just individuals but whole families and even entire communities. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA provides expert legal representation to those seeking to hold those that sexually assaulted accountable for their actions.
By enlisting the legal assistance of Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA’s experienced sexual assault attorneys, you are giving your case the best chance possible at recovering a settlement that you can be comfortable and satisfied with. Our lawyers have been serving the people of Florida for years by successfully securing settlements for sexual assault survivors from parties whose negligence allowed for such tragic experiences to occur. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA offers free consultations to those that are curious as to how we can assist in your sexual assault injury lawsuit. To contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA you can either contact us online or call our office at (727) 451-6900.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33765
(727) 451-6900
