Strengthening resources for midlife and older rural women who experience intimate partner violence

ABSTRACT

Little is known about midlife and older women who experience intimate partner violence living in rural places and their resource needs. Guided by a strengths perspective, we provided insights into resources that midlife and older women use, or would like to use, in their journey in leaving an abusive partner. Eight women who had left an abusive partner participated in a face-to-face interview. They drew on a wide variety of paid and unpaid resources, while each woman had a unique set of resources that contributed to her being able to make such a significant life transition. It is clear that we need to have a variety of formal and informal resources available to older women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural places, and new forms of resources need to be developed. Our results also indicate that increased efforts are needed in improving both public and professional education regarding older rural women and IPV.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• emergency shelters
• older women
• outreach
• resources
• rural

Acknowledgments

We thank Chelsey Condon, Lacey Ford, Miriah McIsaac, Shauna-Lee Regular, and Kristina Toma for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by a CIHR Rural Centre Pilot Project Grant at Dalhousie University.