If you’ve suffered sexual abuse, one of the questions that often comes up is what kind of compensation you may actually be entitled to. The answer is that compensation in a sexual abuse case works similarly to compensation in a personal injury case, and it’s designed to address both the practical costs and the deeper emotional impact of what you’ve been through.
Here’s a closer look at what that typically includes.
Medical Expenses, Past and Future
Just as in a personal injury case, you have claims for your past medical bills related to the abuse. But compensation doesn’t stop at expenses you’ve already incurred. You also have claims for future medical bills, which can include ongoing counseling or treatment you need to work through the sexual abuse you suffered.
Healing from abuse is often not a short process, and future medical damages exist specifically to make sure the cost of that ongoing care doesn’t fall entirely on you.
Lost Wages, Past and Future
If your abuse and its aftermath caused you to miss time from work, whether that was directly related to the abuse itself or to attending counseling and treatment, you have claims for past lost wages.
You may also have claims for future lost wages if ongoing counseling and treatment sessions continue to take you away from your day-to-day work going forward.
In more serious situations, if you’re unable to return to the same job you had before the abuse, future lost wages exist to compensate you for that inability to return to the work and income you had prior to the abuse.
Pain and Suffering, Including Emotional and Mental Distress
Pain and suffering damages in a sexual abuse case genuinely include emotional and mental distress damages as well. This is a critical piece of compensation, because the harm caused by sexual abuse often extends far beyond any physical injury and can affect nearly every part of a survivor’s life.
These damages are available to you specifically so that you can truly heal. They exist to give you the ability to take the time you need, not only to recover from the trauma you’ve suffered, but to find a genuinely healthy path forward.
You Deserve to Understand Your Options
Compensation can never undo what happened to you. But it can help remove some of the financial barriers standing between you and the treatment, stability, and time you need to heal.
Contact Monsees & Mayer, P.C.
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse and want to understand what compensation may be available to you, the attorneys at Monsees & Mayer, P.C. are here to listen and help you understand your options in a confidential, no-obligation consultation. Call 816-361-5555 or visit monseesmayer.com to speak with our team. You are not alone, and you deserve support on the path forward.
