While many people who volunteer to work with charitable organizations do so out of a genuine desire to help those in need, certain types of charities—particularly those dedicated to supporting minor children—can provide opportunities for abusers to act inappropriately in the course of performing volunteer duties. Because of this, it is incumbent upon volunteer programs of all shapes and sizes to know how to spot, report, and proactively prevent sexual misconduct from happening on their watch.
If you experienced sexual abuse in a volunteer program, either as someone seeking assistance or while working as a volunteer yourself, you may have grounds to file civil suit against your abuser(s) as well as the people who enabled them. The sexual abuse lawyers at Phillips Law Group have extensive experience helping people much like you through situations much like yours, and we can provide the compassionate and custom-tailored support you may need to proactively enforce your rights.
Whether they are legally registered as a non-profit organization, a faith-based program, or a charitable wing of a for-profit enterprise, volunteer organizations owe a legal “duty of care” both to their volunteers and to everyone receiving aid through their services. In brief, this duty of care obliges these organizations—and more specifically, the people who operate and staff them—to educate both employees and volunteers about avoiding sexual misconduct, to ensure consistent supervision of both types of staff members, and ideally to establish specific guidelines for preventing and reporting abuse if it is discovered.
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of stories about organizers who either inadvertently allowed sexual abuse to occur within their programs through poor management techniques, or who knowingly allowed sexual abuse to continue by failing to properly report suspected misconduct and/or take allegations of abuse seriously. Either of these scenarios could confer civil liability onto the volunteer programs themselves for harm caused by the sexual abuse they failed to prevent, as a member of the Phillips Law Group team can further explain during a free, no-obligation consultation.
Naming a volunteer program and/or specific volunteer organizers as co-defendants in a civil claim over sexual abuse can allow much greater financial recovery than a lawsuit against a single abuser likely could. This in turn can be key to recovering fairly for the long-term effects that sexual abuse can often have on survivors, including things like:
Under certain circumstances, a civil court may also impose punitive damages against the defendant(s) in a case of this nature expressly to punish them for their egregiously harmful and unlawful actions.
No one deserves to experience any form of sexual mistreatment under any circumstances, and organizations that negligently or knowingly allow sexual abuse to occur under their watch can be held liable for their misconduct. Volunteer programs may often be not-for-profit, but they have a duty to protect their staff members, volunteers, and vulnerable groups from sexual abuse, just like any private company or religious institution would.
You have support available from Phillips Law Group in exploring your right to civil recovery. Call today to discuss potentially filing suit over sexual abuse in a volunteer program.
Available 24/7 
