Intersectional Stigma and Late-Life Intimate-Partner and Sexual Violence: How Social Workers Can Bolster Safety and Healing for Older Survivors

Abstract

Individuals do not become immune to the risks of violence and abuse as they age, and older adults - particularly older women - face intersectional stigma: the compounding of social prejudice and assumptions that draw on a range of factors, such as age, gender and sexuality. These biases influence perfections of risk, the relative invisibility of older women in the fields of elder abuse, intimate-partner and sexual violence, and a lack of recognition of older survivors' needs among professionals in positions to help. Given that older women face attitudinal and practical barriers to services, social workers must comprehend the impact of both ageism and gender disparities on older survivors of intimate-partner and sexual violence. We offer recommendations to bridge the gaps between service providers' assumptions about older women in crisis and the support survivors actually need.