Sexual Abuse Category Archives

Uncovering the Truth, Hidden Documents and Buried Children: Residential School Survivors and Their Families Deserve Better

There will never be enough compensation to make whole Residential School Survivors or their families, but their experiences cannot be in vain. That requires getting at the truth which continues to rear its ugly presence, even more than 13 years after the Government of Canada formally apologized in 2008. Despite that apology, the wounds of the past continue to be reopened both for residential school survivors and their families…

Framing the Argument for General Damages in Sexual Violence Lawsuits

This article aims to frame the discussion of general and aggravated damages merited in cases of sexual abuse or sexual battery (which for ease of reference will be referred to as “sexual violence lawsuits”). The undertone of sexual violence in the personal injury context augments the appropriate level of general damages in these cases. It is evident upon review of the jurisprudence, that claims for general damages in sexual violence lawsuits cannot be assessed in the same way as personal injury claims related to slip and falls or motor vehicle accidents. There is an added dimension to sexual violence lawsuits, which results in a particularly negative effect upon the plaintiff, and ought to be compensated accordingly…

Sexual Abuse Damages In Ontario Not Subject To General Damages Cap

In the recent Ontario Superior Court decision of D.S. v. Quesnelle, Justice Smith made it abundantly clear that in Ontario, general damages caps do not apply in civil sexual abuse claims. This decision should be commended as the policy rationale for general damages caps in most other areas of personal injury are drastically different than in the context of sexual abuse cases.