The Older Women's Network A Voice for Midlife and Older Women   Learning and Working Together

Shelter Needs of Abused Older Women

Key Findings and Recommendations

• Abuse of older women is not well understood or acknowledged by society as a whole. This lack of understanding permeates all aspects of our culture, starting with young children and extending into their adult years.  It is due, in part, to the role and status of women in our society as well as a negative view of aging that tends to pervade our culture.  Abused older women have internalized these messages and blame themselves for their abuse. Older women are more likely to suffer financial and emotional abuse and neglect rather than physical abuse. While there has been some progress made in bringing public attention to the negative consequences of wife assault, many older women do not think of themselves as abused unless they are physically abused. Therefore, many abused older women remain silent. This "cultural taboo" prevents women for asking for help.

Recommendation 1:  That the Government of Ontario, building on its existing Violence Against Women public education strategy and other initiatives such as Seniors’ Month and the Initiative for Vulnerable Adults,  invest resources in a multi-pronged social marketing strategy that promotes a positive image of older women, increases awareness and educates the public about the abuse of older women, its causes,  social costs, and remedies.  This strategy needs to take into account the various target groups that exist for the messages and the different venues for getting the messages out including young children and schools, intergenerational initiatives, various print, audio visual and ethnoracial media.

Recommendation 2: That, since 1999 is the International Year of Older Persons, government ministries be directed to focus on the issue of abuse of older women in their educational, intergenerational and related initiatives.  Areas of government with a major interest in these issues are:  The Ontario Women’s Directorate, the Seniors’ Secretariat, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Education and Training.

•  Abused  older women go to their families, friends and/or cultural or faith communities first for help. Cultural groups and faith communities often have supports and services available for members experiencing difficulties. Sometimes these groups reinforce the prevailing ideas described above. They suggest that they should put up with the situation for the good of the family. Even so, women still will turn them first.

Recommendation 3: That, to ensure that the messages about abuse of older women are received, heard and internalized by the diverse communities in Ontario , the Government of Ontario involve representatives from various cultural and faith communities as  well as older women themselves in the design, development and production of its social marketing strategy.

• Abused older women seek help in many different ways . They may seek help from mainstream services if they are concerned about confidentiality or stigma. Sometimes when they try to access these services they encounter barriers. Abused older women also seek help indirectly. This way the taboo is not broken. Sometimes, when older women speak about their abuse, they are not believed. Many physicians, social worker and community faith and cultural group members do not recognize signs of abuse of older women or are not sure where to get help for women who do disclose abuse. If an abused older women finally decides to ask for help and encounters disbelief, lack of skill or information, she may never try again.

Recommendation 4:  That training and education  on preventing, detecting, assessing and addressing the abuse of older women be provided to front line workers in community based agencies, women’s services and seniors’ services including CCACs, Long Term Care facilities, home support services and peer support programs.  Further , that curricula currently in place to train volunteers and professionals , including teachers, nurses, physicians, social workers, cultural interpreters and others be reviewed and enhanced to include materials on preventing, detecting and addressing the abuse of older women.  

• A major gap in services is the lack of information, coordination and integration of the services that exist. In the area of abuse of older women, no one is taking the lead. Rather, many different groups and organizations provide services to abused older women as part of their other mandated services. There also does not appear to be effective interface between the women's services and senior's sectors. As women age, they become involved in the seniors' service sector where a feminist analyst and woman-centered approach to service is less evident. at the same time, women's shelter staff lack expertise in the area of aging and the special health and personal needs of older women. Many communities have distinct Violence Against Women Networks and Elder Abuse Committees. It is not clear if these groups have cross representation or are even working closely together. When a situation of abuse of an older women comes to light, it is sometimes also not clear who is responsible for which piece of the solution, or who is going to stand beside the woman to make sure the issues are all addressed appropriately. 

Recommendation 5: That all existing services in the areas of violence against women ,long term care, seniors’ services and other places that may come in contact with abused older women  be mandated to address their needs so that women who access the system at various entry points can be assisted to break the cycles of violence they find themselves in.

Recommendation 6:  That local communities be encouraged to develop long range plans for addressing the needs of abused older women that include developing comprehensive, coordinated, integrated community wide response models that are able to quickly and effectively address needs of abused older women in their communities.  That wherever local Violence Against Women Networks or Elder Abuse Committees already exist, they jointly develop the coordinated community response.  The response should be grounded in commonly developed values and principles respecting the older woman’s right to choice, self determination and autonomy.  That the Government of Ontario support communities in these efforts with appropriate resources.

Recommendation 7: That abused older women themselves be intimately involved in the development of coordinated community responses so that their perspectives are incorporated.

Recommendation 8: That, in addition to other key community stakeholder groups, the shelters and other violence against women services play an active role in the development of coordinated  community responses so that their woman centred approach and  expertise on violence against women is reflected in the model. 

• Within a more coordinated community response, shelters have a role in addressing the safety needs of abused older women. Shelters are currently not serving very many women over 55.  Some women do not know about shelters. Others would never think about leaving their home and family. There are physical, cultural and/or linguistic barriers in many shelters that make it hard for abused older women to receive appropriate services. However, rectifying these barriers will not necessarily mean greater number of abused older women will use shelters. The concerns that service providers identify around the difficulty older women might have living with younger women and children in shelters was not as big as concern for women themselves. Safe shelter can mean more than typical VAW shelters. It can mean safe homes, beds in retirement homes or speedy access to senior's subsidized housing and their types of second stage housing. This study did not find sufficient reason to establish separate facility for abused older women. 

Recommendation 9: That the Ministry of Community and Social Services ensure that shelters in Ontario are accessible to and inclusive of all women seeking their services. That changes be made to their facilities and services to minimize barriers for women related to age, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, physical and developmental disabilities and mental health concerns.

Recommendation 10: That shelters in Ontario fulfill their mandate to serve all women, including abused older women by facilitating access to safe shelter for those who cannot use the existing shelters (e.g. those with medical nursing needs). This can be achieved through partnerships or joint ventures with other organizations (e.g. nursing homes/retirement homes) and  facilitating easy access to the existing housing stock rather than establishing new facilities.

Recommendation 11: That shelters participate in the training necessary to better respond to the common issues/needs of abused older women, including increasing their knowledge and skill in the areas of the aging process and related health and mobility concerns of some older women. That  MCSS place priority for its shelter training dollars on the issue of abuse of older women.

Recommendation 12: That funders support these expanded roles of shelters with adequate financial resources.

• Safety for abused older women means more than shelters.  The women in the sample spoke about the factors that contribute to safety.  They suggested  that people to talk with such as peer support groups, telephone supports, day programs, people coming into the home i.e. home based support services, and a 24 hour multilingual emergency phone line would all increase their safety.  All of these would increase the network or circles of people who are involved in some way in the life of a  vulnerable abused woman.  The greater the numbers of people in a woman’s life, the more likely it is that she will be safe.  There are existing networks that can be enhanced to provide the kind of support women described, such as programs in seniors' centres and faith and cultural communities. Some cultural and faith communities may already have specific ways of dealing with community problems that can be harnessed to address this issue. Yet some women will still be hard to reach. While this study did not have time to seek out large numbers of hard to reach older women who are being abused, they must not be forgotten. 

Recommendation 13 : That to enhance the informal supports older women are seeking and to bridge the existing gaps between cultural/faith communities and social services, resources be invested in developing Peer Support Programs for older women.   Further, that when cultural and faith communities have mechanisms in place to deal with the issue themselves, they be supported to do so.

Recommendation 14: That key stakeholder groups such as shelters and seniors services be supported in  efforts to develop effective strategies to seek out hard to reach abused older women and link them with the resources they need to increase their safety.  

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