Gender violence in the elderly: characteristics and effects

Gender-based violence is a behavior carried out by men that threatens the safety and well-being of women just because it is. Although it can be present in practically all ages, elderly women will be more vulnerable to this type of violence.

Next We will see what is understood by gender violence in the elderly, we will present some percentages related to this part of the especially vulnerable population, and we will reference to the health alterations and vulnerabilities presented by elderly women who are victims of violence. Finally, we will mention some procedures and interventions in the situation of gender violence in older women.

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What is gender violence in the elderly?

The UN defines gender violence as: “Any act of violence based on gender that has as a possible or real result a physical, sexual harm or psychological, including threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether it occurs in public life or in life private ”.

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

We consider as people of the third age subjects between 65 and 80 years old, that is to say, the population of elderly or elderly people. Therefore, we have to bear in mind that this group of individuals is vulnerable, presents greater difficulties and shows more functional and emotional dependence.

Despite the fact that the term gender includes both men and women, in society there is a greater number of women who are victims of this type of violence. Given these figures, with more affectation of women, the delegation of the Government of Spain for gender violence has specified necessary carry out studies on the situation of women over 65 years of age who suffer gender-based violence and prepare adapted resources for they.

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 normal. It was assumed as natural for a man to harm or injure his wife, as it was considered to be his property.

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Prevalence of gender violence in older women

Older people are a population group that already show more difficulties and dependency due to being older. Therefore, They start from a situation of greater vulnerability and in many cases they are not attended or helped effectively.

The percentage of older women victims of gender violence is high, with a long evolution of this over time; that is, they have been suffering for years. Such is the affectation that on many occasions the woman herself is not aware and does not acknowledge being 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 violence was registered in the Spanish State. Of the total number of victims, 5 of these women were 65 years of age or older, representing 10.9% of the total fatalities.

In the same way, it is observed that the percentage of women affected by gender violence, be it physical, sexual, psychological or economic and regardless of whether the aggressor was the current partner or the ex-partner, it is in all cases higher in women over 65 years of age compared to younger women.

In the study carried out by the Government delegation for gender violence, the group of subjects was older women 65 years old attended by the ATENPRO service, a telephone service for attention and protection for victims of violence from gender.

Of the women who participated in the study, 40% had suffered gender-based violence for 40 years and 27% between 20 and 30 years. Therefore we observe how violence occurs continuously over time, increasing this continuity if it is carried out by the husband since she shares a home with him.

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

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The vulnerability of older women

The elderly are in general a vulnerable group, given their physical and psychological conditions and the need for support. Added to this inherent vulnerability is the high percentage of older people who receive abuse.

Therefore, older women show greater weakness in the face of possible attacks, being able to be victims of abuse and gender violence jointly in the same woman. We must not forget that abuse and gender violence are not the same, since the latter refers specifically to a behavior arising from machismo.

In the same way, this vulnerability increases the fact of considering the possible physical injuries caused by violence as typical of the aging of the population. woman, the minimization of the importance of aggressive behaviors by the partner (referring that it is due to the stress of being a caregiver) or the normalization and not communication by a large part 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 to attend and assist the victim of gender-based violence do not take into account the differences that may exist in each age group and therefore they are not adapted to these variations, presenting limitations to help and solve the problem effectively.

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Physical and emotional state of the elderly women affected by these attacks

In the group of women who had suffered gender-based violence, 39% of them considered that their state of health was "fair", reaching 31% those who valued it "bad or very bad". When compared with the group of women of the same age in the general population, it was observed that those affected by violence surpass the general population group by 5 perceptual points in the assessment of "bad or very bad" health status.

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, for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, the percentages have been 32% and 24% respectively.

What is most alarming and worrying is that 59% of women with these mental disorders do not receive psychological or psychiatric treatment.

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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, 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 economyThey depend on the husband who is often the aggressor, and they have no other place to go if they run away from home.

Therefore it is very important that when they make the decision to act in the face of violence seek help, in order to also help reduce their fear of the aggressor and feel more safe.

Another intervention that is carried out in the face of a situation of gender violence in elderly women is advise the victim to move to another location that the aggressor does not know and thus cannot find it. But in the case of older women, this action also involves more problems, since they tend to have life established in a specific place and they also have no 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 distancing themselves from the abuser.

In case of not being able or not wanting to go to a shelter or foster home, women who need it, who require help to treat psychological disorders, they can request it from the psychosocial care available to the Health Services Mental.

Another fundamental point for recovery and good coping is have the support of family and friends, as well as being able to share the experience and situation with another woman of a similar age who is also a victim of violence. Support groups where women who are going through a situation of distress can attend will be very useful. violence and thus be able to feel accompanied, that they are not alone and are not the only ones who are suffering that situation.

Older women also have greater difficulty in being themselves again, feel like before the violent situation, given that on many occasions, as we have already seen, violence has occurred for a long time, 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 that these women present in the face of gender violence, it is It is necessary to support, help and accompany them, making them not feel alone in the process and making them know all the possibilities available to them, protecting them from the aggressor and recognizing and giving them the importance of the situation by the one they are going through.