Civil Sex Assault Claims

Civil Versus Criminal: Suing After a Sexual Assault

If you were sexually assaulted, someone may have told you that nothing can happen unless the police act. That is not how the civil system works. A criminal case and a civil case are two separate proceedings, brought by different people, aimed at different outcomes. The state brings the criminal case, and if it succeeds the person who assaulted you may go to prison. You bring the civil case, and if it succeeds you may recover money. Neither one depends on the other. A civil claim may be available when no charge was ever filed, when a prosecutor declined to pursue the case, and in some circumstances even after an acquittal. Many survivors never go to the police at all and still have a claim worth reviewing. This post explains how the two systems differ, what a civil case actually asks a court to decide, and why the standard of proof matters so much to survivors whose accounts were never going to satisfy a criminal court.

Two systems asking two different questions

A criminal prosecution asks whether the state has proven a crime. The parties are the government and the accused. You are not a party to it. You may be a witness, and a very important one, but the case does not belong to you, and its purpose is to punish rather than to compensate you.

A civil claim asks a different question entirely. It asks whether one person injured another and what that injury is worth. You are the plaintiff. The person who assaulted you is the defendant, and in many cases an institution that enabled the assault can be named alongside them. The remedy is money, and sometimes an injunction or a formal admission negotiated as part of a settlement.

Because the questions differ, the answers can differ too. A prosecutor may decline a case for reasons that have nothing to do with whether you were assaulted. Charging decisions turn on resources, on the strength of physical evidence, and on a prosecutor's own assessment of what a criminal jury will do. None of that decides your civil claim.

Who controls the case

This difference matters more than survivors often expect. In a criminal case, a prosecutor decides whether to charge, what to charge, whether to offer a plea, and whether to drop the matter. You can be consulted. You cannot decide.

In a civil case, you decide. You decide whether to file at all. You decide, with your lawyer, whether to accept a settlement or take the case to trial. You can direct that a case be resolved quietly, or you can insist on a public filing. Survivors who have felt powerless throughout a criminal process sometimes describe the civil case as the first point at which they had any say in what happened next.

The standard of proof is lower

A criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the highest standard the law uses, and it exists because a conviction can take a person's liberty.

A civil claim is decided on a preponderance of the evidence. In plain terms, the question is whether your account is more likely true than not. That is a meaningfully lower bar, and it is the single most important reason a civil case can succeed where a criminal case never got off the ground.

This is why cases that turn on one person's word against another's, with no physical evidence and no witnesses, can still be viable civil claims. Your testimony is evidence. So are contemporaneous messages, medical and therapy records, and the accounts of people you told at the time.

No conviction, charge or police report is required

You do not need any of the following in order to bring a civil claim:

A criminal conviction
Criminal charges of any kind
A police report
A forensic examination
A prosecutor's cooperation or permission

A police report can be useful evidence where one exists. Its absence does not necessarily end a case. Survivors delay reporting for reasons courts now understand well, including fear of the person responsible, financial dependence, shame, and the simple fact that many people do not immediately name what happened to them as an assault.

What a civil case can and cannot deliver

A civil case can deliver compensation. Depending on the facts, that may cover therapy and medical treatment, lost income and reduced earning capacity, and the harder to quantify harm the law calls pain, suffering and emotional distress. Where conduct was especially egregious, punitive damages may be available, and certain statutes may allow recovery of attorney's fees.

A civil case cannot send anyone to prison. Only a criminal court can do that. If imprisonment is the outcome you want most, a civil claim will not produce it, though the two can run alongside each other.

What a civil case often does deliver, beyond money, is a record. Sworn testimony, documents produced under subpoena, and findings that an institution knew something and did nothing. For some survivors that matters as much as the recovery.

Running both at the same time

A criminal case and a civil case can proceed together, and often do. Sometimes a civil case is paused while a criminal matter runs its course, because a defendant facing charges may decline to answer questions in the civil case. That kind of sequencing is normal and is something your lawyer will manage.

The reverse is also true. An acquittal does not automatically defeat a civil claim, because the criminal jury was answering a harder question. A conviction, where one exists, can strengthen a civil case considerably.

Where to start

Start with a conversation, not a decision. You are not committing to filing anything by asking whether you have a claim. A lawyer can tell you which claims may be available, who could be named, what evidence would matter, and what the process would ask of you.

Timing does affect civil claims, and the rules vary depending on where the assault happened, who was involved and the circumstances at the time. Some of those rules have changed in recent years. If you think your claim may be too late, ask before assuming it is.

You can read more about how these cases work on our civil sexual assault claims page, and about the institutions that may share responsibility in holding hotels, schools and institutions accountable.

Frequently asked questions

The prosecutor dropped my case. Is that the end of it?

Not necessarily. A declination reflects a prosecutor's judgment about a criminal case under the highest standard of proof. A civil claim is a separate proceeding decided on a lower standard, and it may still be viable.

I never went to the police. Can I still sue?

Often yes. A police report is not a precondition to a civil claim. Other evidence, including your own testimony, messages sent at the time and treatment records, can support a case.

If I sue, will I have to testify in open court?

Most civil cases resolve before trial. Where a case does go to trial, there may be options that limit public exposure, and privacy is something to raise with your lawyer at the very beginning rather than after filing.

Can I bring a civil case while a criminal case is still going on?

Yes, and this happens regularly. The civil case is sometimes paused while the criminal matter proceeds. Your lawyer will advise on sequencing so that neither case damages the other.

Speak with us confidentially

If you are weighing whether to bring a civil claim, a free and confidential review is the sensible first step. We can tell you what may be available in your situation before you decide anything. Start with a free confidential review, or call us at (212) 516-1868. We represent survivors on a contingency fee basis, which means there is no fee unless we recover for you.

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