Many students experienced sexual abuse at the hands of school faculty, local clergy members, lay persons from the local community, and other students.
Some victims of sexual assault in Residential Schools have remained silent about their experiences for multiple reasons, including shame, fear of disbelief, and symptoms of psychological trauma that are harmful to retell to the survivors. However, given the number of survivors who have reported sexual assault, and the extensive research already collected on the conditions of Residential schools, it is inarguable that sexual violence was widespread throughout the institutions, having immediate and long-term effect on Indigenous peoples and their communities.
This is affirmed by Mel H. Buffalo, an adviser to the Samson band in Alberta, who says that "every Indian person I have spoken to who attended these schools has a story of mental, physical or sexual abuse. Following incidents of abuse in , D. Scott, Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs, instructed that female students be sent home. It was deemed the institution was no longer safe to continue mixed education of boys and girls.
Abuse was usually ignored or covered up by school and church authorities. Those that were addressed rarely went beyond the perpetrator being told to stop with no further action taken.
While there has been some institutional response from the federal government and church in more recent years, there continues to be barriers in acquiring support and compensation for many survivors and the long-term impacts of Residential Schooling.
