Older women are frequent victims of domestic abuse
Tue, 11 Nov 2014 12:42:00 GMT
One-in-four women will be abused during their life course
OLDER women are frequent victims of domestic abuse, but their plight is often overlooked, because of a mistaken belief that only younger females are affected. Now, University of Huddersfield researchers are turning a spotlight on this neglected social problem.
Senior lecturer Dr Michelle Bartholomew (pictured below on the right) and Reader in Sociology Dr Sharon Wray (pictured below left) are based in the University’s School of Human and Health Sciences and raised the topic of abused older women when they delivered a presentation at a special meeting of Kirklees Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre (KRASACC), which was marking its 25th anniversary.
They explained the distinction between “elder abuse” – such as the neglect and mistreatment of older people in institutional care or within families – and the domestic abuse that is directed towards older women, often throughout the course of their lives. The former problem has been well researched, but the latter is neglected.
“This is because there is an assumption that domestic abuse and violence only happens to younger women, when they actually happen to older women too. But this is often submerged into the issue of elder abuse, which is completely different,” said Dr Wray.
The abuse could still be happening or it could be an earlier experience that had left its scars.
“When you talk to older women they often tell you about what happened to them earlier in their life course,” said Dr Wray. “It might have been abuse by a partner who is dead now, but the experience is still impacting on their life.”
Domestic abuse
Dr Wray’s field of research includes families, ageing and the life course. She is Associate Director of the Centre for Applied Childhood and Family Studies, based at the University. Her work is now beginning to include the issue of abuse of older women, with KRASACC as a potential research partner.
Her University of Huddersfield colleague, Dr Bartholomew, brings added dimensions to the research because of her expertise in diversity and ethnicity, especially the experience of older African-Caribbean women.
They too can be the victims of abuse, but the problem is often hushed up, said Dr Bartholomew.
“There are some individuals who might well want to speak about it, but for others it is a part of their life and they have other issues to deal with, such as racism or other forms of discrimination, so the abuse is not prioritised,” she explained.
When they spoke at the KRASACC meeting, Dr Bartholomew and Dr Wray provided data on the scale of domestic abuse in the UK. It is claimed that one-in-four women will be abused during their life course. Domestic abuse accounts for 18 per cent of all violent incidents and repeat victimisation accounts for 73 per cent of these cases.
In the case of older women, the abuse might be long-standing – with serious physical, emotional and psychological consequences – or it could be late in onset, possibly because of a worsening relationship.
But the true scale of the abuse of older women is not known, because much of the research focus remains on younger women. Now Dr Wray and Dr Bartholomew hope to develop their work in the field and the relationship between the University and KRASACC.
