Survivors in the Margins: The Invisibility of Violence Against Older Women

Abstract

Violence against older women exists in the margins between domestic violence and elder abuse, with neither field adequately capturing the experiences of older women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). This commentary explores this oversight, identifying how the lack of gender analysis in the elder abuse field exacerbates older survivors’ invisibility when the wider violence against women (VAW) field lacks a lifespan approach to abuse. Examining the impact of generational and aging factors on how older women experience IPV, we assert that the VAW field may be overlooking a wider population of survivors than previously thought.

KEYWORDS:

• commentary
• domestic violence
• elder abuse
• intimate partner violence
• violence against older women

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank Rachel Blum and Amanda Shriwise for their expert assistance editing this article.

Notes

1. The term “violence against women” is used to refer to the collective field of advocacy, victim services, policy, and research dedicated to prevention and response of IPV, sexual assault, and stalking.

2. In this article, “older” refers to women beyond childbearing age, identified by the United States Preventive Services Task Force as women past the age of 46.

3. “Domestic violence” is often used interchangeably with IPV by the VAW field to capture abuse perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner; however, literature on elder abuse sometimes uses the term domestic violence to refer to abuse against an older adult perpetrated by a person with whom the victim has a close but nonintimate relationship.

4. “IPV in later life”/”late-life IPV” refers to IPV experienced by women beyond reproductive age (46+ years).

5. Domestic violence programs during the early stages of the U.S. battered women’s movement were intended (and largely remain) for women seeking refuge from IPV (Fernandes-Alcantara, 2014).

6. Vulnerability is associated with frailty in older adults and care-dependence (also associated with disability, regardless of age).