This guide will clarify what is sexual assault and detail how you could receive compensation if you were the victim of a criminal act like this.
You may be entitled to claim whether you’ve suffered historical sexual assault or been assaulted as an adult; for example, you may have been the victim of sexual assault at work. We will detail how you could make a claim for this kind of violent crime.
Below, we explore the topic in comprehensive detail.
Choose A Section
- What Is Sexual Assault?
- Receiving Support For Sexual Assault
- How To Claim Compensation Due To Sexual Abuse, Assault Or Rape
- Potential Sexual Assault Compensation Awards
- Could I Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Learn More About What Sexual Assault Is
What Is Sexual Assault?
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes cases in England and Wales that have been reported to and investigated by the police. They define sexual offences as including:
- Non-consensual crimes, such as sexual assault or rape;
- Crimes against children, like grooming or child sexual abuse.
- Crimes that exploit others for a sexual purpose, whether online or in person.
You may be wondering, “what is sexual assault?”. It is when someone sexually touches a person without their consent. It can lead to physical and psychological effects that greatly affect your quality of life.
There are laws in place to define what sexual assault is. The Indecency with Children Act 1960 and The Sexual Offences Act 1956 apply to sexual offences that happen before May 2004. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 applies to crimes committed from May 2004.
Statistics For Sexual Assaults
The Office for National Statistics has provided the latest sexual assault statistics regarding England and Wales. These figures are up-to-date as of March 2019. Above is a graph highlighting the time period between a sexual assault on a child and the date on which it was reported to the police.
As you can see, 65.68% of these incidents were reported within one year. However, 14.17% were only reported after twenty years or more. This could be for many reasons, including suffering from trauma after the event, meaning that you were unable to report it.
Receiving Support For Sexual Assault
We’ve now clarified what is sexual assault and highlighted statistics that show how long it can take for these types of incidents to be reported to the police if they are reported at all. This section will now clarify how particular support services could help you.
The psychological and physical effects of sexual assault can be life-changing. It could leave you feeling isolated and unable to communicate with loved ones, such as family and friends. You could suffer from psychological injuries, such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, you may be physically injured, for example from having contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
However, there are avenues of support for you. The Survivors Trust is an umbrella agency containing 124 agencies that specialise in providing advice, information, therapy and support to survivors of sexual assault and abuse. Additionally, Survivors UK supports and advocates for men and non-binary people who have been affected by sexual assault and rape.
Rape Crisis England and Wales support all rape crisis centres across the two countries. They are a feminist organisation that provides awareness and understanding of sexual abuse and violence. Furthermore, Refuge provides protection for women and children who have suffered from domestic abuse.
How To Claim Compensation Due To Sexual Abuse, Assault Or Rape
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) deals with compensation claims for violent crimes that lead to physical or psychological injury in England, Wales and Scotland.
An important part of their eligibility criteria involves reporting the crime to the police as soon as you possibly can. In most instances, they need a police crime reference number to process the claim. After reporting it to the police, you usually need to begin the claim within two years. If you’ve suffered from historic sexual abuse or have taken an extended period of time to report the crime, the CICA may ask for further evidence.
Reasons for the award being reduced or withheld include failing to take all reasonable steps required to assist the claims officer or if you have unspent convictions. Please read the CICA Tariff for full details as to their eligibility criteria.
Furthermore, in certain circumstances, you may be able to claim directly against the organisation that was responsible for the abuse. For example, you may be able to claim against a school if you suffered sexual abuse from a teacher who was employed after not being sufficiently DBS-checked and who had a history of sexual offences that would have precluded them from being employed.
You may also be able to claim directly against the person who assaulted you. In order to do this, you would need to know who they are and they would need to have the funds available to compensate you.
Potential Sexual Assault Compensation Awards
Having already answered the question “what is sexual assault?”, this section will provide you with more information about the amount of compensation for sexual assault in the UK you could receive.
The CICA tariff of injuries shows how different types of injuries could attract different compensation amounts. The amount you could receive will depend on the psychological and physical effects of the injury. Below is a list of sexual assault injuries they’ve provided to give you a better idea of what you could receive.
| Offence | Injury Type | Amount of Compensation | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sexual offence - victim is a child | Penetration with a penis without consent | £11,000 | This value is for an isolated incident of penile penetration that was non-consensual of one or more of anus, mouth or vagina. |
| Penetration with a penis without consent | £44,000 | This value is for penile penetration that is non-consensual of one or more of vagina, anus or mouth resulting in internal bodily injury that is serious causing permanent, severe and disabling mental illness. A psychiatric prognosis confirms this. | |
| Sexual assault | £2,000 | This value is for non-penetrative and serious sexual act(s) that are physical in nature and occurred under clothing. | |
| Sexual assault | £8,200 | This value is for frequent and repetitive sexual assault incidents involving at least one non-penile oral or penetrative genital act(s) taking place over at least three years. | |
| Sexual assault | £4,400 | This value is for isolated sexual assault incidents involving at least one non-penile oral or penetrative genital act(s). | |
| Sexual offence - victim, any age | Sexual assault | £1,000 | This value is for a minor, non-penetrative sexual act(s) over clothing. |
| Sexual assault | £3,300 | This value is for severe, non-penile penetrative or oral-genital act(s). | |
| Sexual assault | £27,000 | This value is for sexual assault that has led to a permanently disabling mental illness which has been confirmed as severe in nature by psychiatric prognosis. | |
| Penetration with a penis without consent | £22,000 | This value is for non-consensual penile penetration of one or more of mouth, anus or vagina resulting in serious internal bodily injuries. | |
| Penetration with a penis without consent | £33,000 | This value is for penile penetration that is non-consensual of one or more of mouth, anus or vagina resulting in a internal bodily injury that is serious, causing disabling and permanent mental illness. Psychiatric prognosis would confirm that this is moderate in nature. |
You could also be compensated for other costs associated with your injuries as special expenses. This can cover things like loss of earnings and physical aids that were broken in the attack. You would need to have lost earnings for at least 28 weeks to claim special expenses; you can read the CICA Guide for more information on this.
If you make a claim against an organisation or individual for a sexual offence, then the compensation you receive will be worked out with the help of the Judicial College Guidelines. These are guidelines that are worked out by assessing previous compensation awards that have been paid.
Could I Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
You may want to know the benefits of using a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel. This includes:
- No hidden fees or costs. Your solicitor will explain all of the potential costs to you before you agree to use their services.
- Not paying the legal fees of your solicitor during the claims process, or in the event that you aren’t awarded compensation.
- Only paying their legal costs if your claim is successful. They will take a small amount of compensation at the end of the claim. This is referred to as a “success fee”.
Learn More About What Sexual Assault Is
To learn more about claiming for sexual harassment and assault, please use the below links.
For support after suffering from sexual assault and battery, you can contact Childline.
Victim Support provides 24/7 support that is free and confidential.
Do you want to know more about the rape and sexual assault support you could receive? If so, please visit the NHS website.
We also have some other guides you may find useful:
- A Guide To Rape Compensation Claims
- Can I Claim Compensation For Being Sexually Assaulted?
- How To Make A Sexual Assault Claim
- Sexual Assault Compensation Payouts
- The Latest Sexual Assault Statistics
We hope to have answered the question “what is sexual assault?”.