Gender Violence In The Elderly: Characteristics And Effects
Gender violence is a behavior carried out by men that threatens the safety and well-being of women by virtue of being women. Although it can be present at practically all ages, elderly women will be more vulnerable to this type of violence.
Next We will see what is meant by gender violence in the elderly , we will present some percentages related to this part of the especially vulnerable population, and we will make reference to the health alterations and vulnerabilities that elderly women victims of violence present. Finally, we will mention some procedures and interventions in the situation of gender violence in older women.
The UN defines gender-based violence as: “Any act of gender-based violence that potentially or actually results in physical, sexual or psychological harm, including threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether “occurs in public life or in private life.”
That is, any act that threatens the safety or well-being of a person and is linked to the gender of this person
We consider elderly people to be subjects between 65 and 80 years old, that is, the population of elderly or elderly people. Therefore, we have to keep 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, in society there is a greater number of women victims of this type of violence. Given these figures, with women being more affected, the Spanish Government delegation for gender violence has stated that it is necessary to carry out studies on the situation of women over 65 years of age who suffer gender violence and prepare resources adapted for them.
There are different types of violence: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, emotional violence and economic violence. Gender violence has been ignored for a long time, seen as something normal It was assumed as natural for a man to harm or injure his wife, since she was considered his property.
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 are not attended to or helped effectively
The percentage of older women victims of gender violence is high, with a long evolution over time; That is, they have been suffering for years. Such is the impact 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 care for 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 recorded in the Spanish State. Of the total victims, 5 of these women were 65 years old or older, accounting for 10.9% of the total fatalities.
Likewise, it is observed that the percentage of women affected by gender violence, whether physical, sexual, psychological or economic and regardless of whether the aggressor was the current partner or the ex-partner, It is in all cases greater 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 women over 65 years of age served by the ATENPRO service, a telephone service for attention and protection of victims of gender violence.
Of the women who participated in the study, 40% had been suffering from gender violence for more than 40 years and 27% had been suffering 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 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
Elderly people are generally a vulnerable group, given their physical and psychological conditions and 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, and may be victims of abuse and gender violence together 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
Likewise, this vulnerability increases when considering possible physical injuries caused by violence as typical of women’s aging, minimizing the importance of aggressive behavior by the partner (referring that it is due to the stress of being a caregiver) or the normalization and lack of 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 care for and assist the victim of gender violence violence They 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.
Physical and emotional state of elderly women affected by these attacks
In the group of women who had suffered gender violence, 39% of them considered their health status to be “fair,” with 31% considering it “bad or very bad.” When compared with the group of women of the same age from 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 more alarming and worrying is that 59% of women with these mental disorders do not receive psychological or 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 keeping 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 economy they depend on the husband who is often the aggressor, and they also 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 situation of violence, they seek help, in order to also help reduce their fear of the aggressor and feel safer.
Another intervention that is carried out in 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 entails more problems, since they usually have their lives established in a specific place and do not have the means to travel 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.
If they are unable or unwilling to go to a shelter or foster home, women who need it, who require help to treat psychological problems, can request it from the psychosocial care provided by the Mental Health Services.
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 violence can attend will be very useful and thus feel supported, that they are not alone and they are not the only ones who are suffering from this situation.
Older women also have greater difficulty in becoming 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 what they were like before, they do not remember what they really are like.
In this way, given the difficulties and vulnerability that these women present in the situation of gender violence, it is necessary to support, help and accompany them, ensuring that they do not feel alone in the process and making them aware of all the possibilities that are available to them. , protecting them from the aggressor and recognizing and giving the importance of the situation they are going through.
