Gender-based violence in the elderly: characteristics and effects

These are the characteristics of gender violence in the elderly, and its social effects.

Gender violence is a behavior carried out by men that undermines the safety and well-being of women just because they are women. Although it can be present in virtually all age groups, older women will be more vulnerable to this type of violence.

What follows is a look at what is meant by gender-based violence. we will see what is meant by gender-based violence in the elderly, we will present some percentages related to this type of violence.We will present some percentages related to this particularly vulnerable part of the population, and we will refer to the health alterations and vulnerabilities of elderly women who are victims of violence. Finally, we will mention some procedures and interventions in the situation of gender violence in elderly women.

What is gender-based violence in the elderly?

The UN defines gender-based violence as: "Any act of gender-based violence that results in possible or actual physical, sexual or psychological harm, including threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."

In other words, gender-based violence is considered to be any act which is considered to be any act that threatens the safety or well-being of a person and that is linked to that person's gender..

We consider as elderly people those between 65 and 80 years of age, i.e. the population of elderly people. Therefore, we must bear in mind that this group of individuals is vulnerable, presents greater difficulties and shows more functional and emotional dependence.

Although the term gender includes both men and women, a greater number of women victims of this type of violence are observed in society. Given these figures, with more women being affected, the Spanish Government's delegation for gender violence has specified the need to carry out studies on the situation of women over 65 years of age who suffer gender violence and to prepare resources adapted to them.

There are different types of violence: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, emotional violence and economic violence. Gender-based violence has been ignored for a long time, seen as a normal occurrence.. It was assumed to be natural for a man to harm or injure his wife, as she was considered his property.

Prevalence of gender-based violence in older women

Elderly people are a population group that already show more difficulties and dependence due to the fact that they are older. Therefore, they start from a situation of greater vulnerability, They start from a situation of greater vulnerability and on many occasions are not attended to or assisted in an effective manner..

The percentage of elderly women who are victims of gender violence is high, with a long evolution over time; in other words, they have been suffering for years. Such is the affectation that on many occasions the woman herself is not aware and does not recognize that she is a victim of aggression. It will be essential to attend and support these women so that they do not feel alone and can face and overcome the situation.

In 2017, the death of 46 women victims of gender-based violence was recorded in Spain. Of the total number of victims, 5 of these women were 65 years of age or older, accounting for 10.9% of all fatalities.

Similarly, the percentage of women affected by gender-based violence, whether physical, sexual, psychological or economic, and regardless of whether the aggressor was the current or former partner, is higher in all cases in women over 65 years of age than in younger women, is in all cases higher in women over 65 years of age than in younger women..

The study carried out by the Government Delegation for Gender Violence had as its subject group women over 65 years of age who were attended by the ATENPRO service, a telephone service for the care and protection of victims of gender violence.

Of the women who participated in the study 40% had been suffering from gender violence for 40 years or more and 27% between 20 and 30 years of age.. Therefore, we can see how violence occurs continuously over time, and this continuity increases if it is perpetrated by the husband, since they share a house with him.

It has also been observed that 78% of gender violence in these women occurs in the context of marriage, 75% have suffered psychological violence and 56% have sexual relations without their consent.

The vulnerability of older women

The elderly are generally a vulnerable group, given their physical and psychological conditions and the need for support. This inherent vulnerability is compounded by the high percentage of older people who are abused.

Therefore, older women show greater weakness in the face of possible attacks, and may be victims of abuse and gender violence together in the same woman. We must not forget that mistreatment and gender violence are not the same, since the latter refers specifically to behavior arising from male chauvinism.

Similarly, this vulnerability is increased by the fact of considering the possible physical injuries caused by violence as typical of aging women, the minimization of the importance of aggressive behavior by the partner (referring to the stress of being a caregiver) or the normalization and non-communication by many of the women affected by the situation of violence, given that they have been living with the aggressor for years and value the behavior as normal.

It is also worrying that the specialized resources for attending to and assisting the victim of gender-based violence do not take into account the differences that may exist in the victim's situation. do not take into account the differences that may exist in each age group, and therefore are not adapted to each age group. and therefore are not adapted to these variations, presenting limitations to help and solve the problem effectively.

Physical and emotional state of elderly women affected by these attacks

In the group of women who had suffered gender-based violence, 39% of them considered their state of health to be "fair", with 31% rating it as "bad or very bad". When compared with the group of women of the same age in the general population, it was observed that women affected by violence were five times more likely to be in poor or very poor health than women affected by violence. those affected by violence were 5 perceptual points higher than the general population group in the "bad or very bad" assessment of their state of health..

The percentages do not decrease when we focus on the emotional state, since 7 out of 10 affected women report anxiety, sadness and anguish. Specifically, of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, the percentages have been 32% and 24% respectively.

What is more alarming and worrisome is that 59% of women with these mental disorders receive neither psychological nor psychiatric treatment..

Resources and strategies to combat this type of violence

To confront this type of gender violence, techniques and strategies similar to those used with victims of other ages are used, but bearing in mind, as we have already pointed out, the difficulties associated with old age. Normally, elderly women do not have or do not have their own finances and depend on their husbands, who often do not have their own money.They are dependent on their husband, who is often the aggressor, and they have nowhere else to go if they run away from home.

It is therefore very important that when they make the decision to act in the face of violence, they seek help, thus also helping to reduce their fear of the aggressor and feel safer.

Another intervention in a situation of gender-based violence against elderly women is to advise the victim to move to another location to another location that the aggressor does not know and thus cannot find her. But in the case of older women this action also involves more problems, since they usually have their lives established in a specific place and also do not have the means to move to another safer place. So it will be essential to inform them of the shelters and homes to which they can go and where they will be welcomed and protected, thus moving away from the abuser.

If they are unable or unwilling to go to a shelter or shelter home, women who need help in dealing with the psychological effects can request it from the psychosocial care provided by the Mental Health Services.

Another fundamental point for recovery and good coping is to count on the support of family and friends, as well as to be able to shareand to be able to share the experience and situation with other women of a similar age who are also victims of violence. Support groups where women who are going through a situation of violence can attend and feel accompanied, that they are not alone and that they are not the only ones who are suffering from this situation will be very useful.

Elderly women also have greater difficulty in returning to their former selves, to feel as they did before the situation of violence.In many cases, as we have already seen, it has been a long time since the violence occurred, and therefore they have lost the notion of how they were before, they do not remember how they really are.

Thus, given the difficulties and vulnerability of these women in the situation of gender violence, it is necessary to support them, help them and accompany them, making them not feel alone in the process and making them aware of all the possibilities and services available to them, protecting them from the aggressor and recognizing and giving them the importance of the situation they are going through.