Abuse and Neglect in Later Life: When and How Does Gender Matter?

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Abuse and Neglect in Later Life When and
HowDoes Gender Matter?

• Jill Hightower, M.A.

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Abuse and Neglect in Later Life When and How
Does Gender Matter?
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Abuse and Neglect in Later Life When and How
Does Gender Matter?
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Will you still need me, will you still feed
me, When I'm sixty-four? John Lennon and Paul
McCartney,1967  
Life expectancy at birth in 1940, assuming 1940
male death rates Age 57.3 Life expectancy of
men living to age 64, assuming 1967 death rates
Age 77.0
(Source Life Table data for England and Wales,
from www.mortality.org)
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Definition Ageism
Robert Butler, the first director of the US
National Institute on Aging, coined the term
ageism in 1969. He likened it to other forms of
bigotry, racism and sexism, and defined it as a
process of systematic stereotyping and
discrimination against people because they are
old. Today, it is more broadly defined as any
prejudice or discrimination against or in favour
of an age group (Palmore, 1990).
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Ageism
Ageist attitudes have an impact across society at
many levels. When the over-riding image of old
age is someone frail and dependent, the impact on
older peoples lives can be devastating. When
abuse in later life is viewed as a result of
ageing, legislation, public policy and practices
focus on dependency and frailty.That can have as
serious an impact on older adults lives as their
abuse.
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• You've come a long way baby, to get where
  you've got to today.You've got your own
  cigarette now baby,You've come a long,
  long way.

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Gender

• Refers to socially constructed differences
  between the sexes and to the social relationships
  between women and men.
• Differs across cultures, changes over time
• Women's and men's responsibilities and roles are
  socially determined. How we are perceived and how
  we are expected to think and act as women or men
  is a function of gender, not because of
  biological differences because of the cultural
  norms in society.

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Definition Elder Abuse
Elder Abuse is defined as a single or repeated
act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring
within a relationship where there is an
expectation of trust, which causes harm or
distress to an older person. (Action on Elder
Abuse, quoted by WHO/INPEA 2002)
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Definition Violence Against Women

• Any act of gender-based violence that results
  in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual
  or psychological harm or suffering to women,
  including threats of such acts, coercion or
  arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether
  occurring in public or private life.
• (United Nations 1993)

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Gender Violence Throughout a Womans Life
Phase Prenatal Infant Child
Type of Violence Sex-selective abortion,
battering while pregnant, rape of mother, coerced
pregnancy. Female infanticide, emotional and
physical abuse, differential access to food and
medical care. Genital mutilation incest and
sexual abuse differential access to food,
medical care, and education child prostitution.
Source Adapted from Heise, et.al., 1994,
Violence Against Women The Hidden Health Burden
. World Bank Discussion Paper
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Gender Violence . . . continued
Phase Adoles- cent Child-
bearing Old Age
Type of Violence Dating and courtship violence,
economically coerced sex, rape, sexual
harassment, forced prostitution Abuse of women by
intimate partners, marital rape, dowry abuse,
spousal homicide, psychological abuse, sexual
harassment, rape, abuse of women with
disabilities Physical, sexual, psychological, and
financial abuse by intimate partners, adult
children, and grandchildren.
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Violence and abuse happens across the lifespan,
and yet we have created silos child abuse, woman
abuse, elder abuse. In creating these silos, we
have not only worked separately from our
colleagues in other areas, but we have also put
people into boxes they experience either
elder abuse or domestic violence. Judit Alcalde,
2006
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Early Parallels
Elder AbuseWas first identified and described
in British scientific journals, by Baker in 1975
and Burston in 1977, and initially called
Granny Bashing Domestic ViolenceDescribed by
Erin Pizzey in 1974, in her ground-breaking book
Scream Quietly or The Neighbours Will Hear
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Hearing the Voices of Older Victims
We need to recognise and validate the experiences
of women who have survived a lifetime of
violence. We need to resist the assumption
inherent in the term elder abuse, that
violence is something that happens only when you
get older.
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Legislation and Public Policy
Sexual assault and domestic violence are crimes
and human rights abuses, whatever the age of the
victim. Treating these crimes as elder abuse when
they are perpetrated against older persons
inadequately signifies the criminal and harmful
behaviours of perpetrators, and usually masks the
gendered nature of particular forms of violence
perpetrated against older women. (adapted from
Olle 2005)
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Legislation and Public Policy
If criminal offenses such as assault, rape or
theft are redefined as physical, sexual and
financial abuse, they are removed from the
criminal justice system. To label such criminal
acts as abuse both detracts from the
criminality of the perpetrator and degrades the
experience of the victim. (adapted from Kinnear
Graycar 1999)
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A final word
We older women are a heterogeneous group. While
age and gender are the primary issues in
addressing abuse in later life, ethnicity,
socio-economic status, race, religion, ability
and gender-orientation are among the factors
affecting in important ways how a woman defines
herself and how she seeks help. When working to
help an older person we must acknowledge and
respect these attributes along with age and
gender.
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Contact Information

• Jill Hightower
• hightower_at_dccnet.com
• 604.885.7755