Violence Against Older Women

There is no age limit to becoming a victim of domestic violence. Domestic violence affects victims of all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, cultures, geographic areas, sexual orientations, genders, and professions. Domestic violence in later life can be perpetrated against someone healthy, ailing, or disabled. A partner, spouse, or companion can perpetrate the abuse. Often the abuser is the primary caregiver, thus making the victim even more dependent on the abuser and isolated from others.

For many older victims of domestic violence, the abuse may have been going on for years. For others, the violence may have begun later in life. Lifestyle changes for the victim and the abuser may be factors that can bring about domestic violence in later life. These changes can include retirement, aging, limited mobility, and illness.

Older women get battered too.

• 2/3 of elder domestic abuse and neglect victims are women
• More than half of all reported elder abuse and neglect is caused by family members

Abused older women are less likely to be recognized as such.

• The media usually portrays domestic violence as a younger woman’s problem
• Friends, neighbors, and even health care providers and other professionals often assume that older women’s injuries and behavior are due simply to “old age,” when those symptoms are actually caused by abuse and neglect.

Abused older women are less likely to seek help.

• Older women are more economically vulnerable than younger women, and they may fear poverty, homelessness, or loss of health care benefits if they report abusive behavior by a spouse or family member.
• If an older woman is frail or dependent on others to provide physical care, she may fear being placed in a nursing home.
• Even more than younger women, older women have been socialized to minimize their own identity, needs, and desires.
• Older women are less likely to seek social or psychological services because many of them were brought up to believe that such help is a sign of weakness and failure.
• Women abused by a spouse may not be willing to view separation or divorce as options because of stigma or an inability to envision life without a long-term spouse. They may believe that battering is an acceptable part of a relationship.

Services for older battered women are still developing

• Adult protective services (APS) in all states serve abused women when such cases come to their attention. However, it is estimated that only a small fraction of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation is reported to APS.
• Shelters and services for battered women seldom serve older women because the environment is usually set up for mothers with young children.
• However, there is a growing interest across the U.S. to develop partnerships between APS agencies and battered women’s programs.