Societal, Organizational, Relational, and Individual Perceptions of Sexual Violence Against Older Adults and Its Prevention: A Systematic Scoping Review

Abstract

Background and Objectives Older adults are not regarded as sexual and are widely excluded from sexual violence (SV) research, policies, and practice; little is known about SV against older adults and its prevention. Research Design and Methods An eight-database scoping review explored perceptions of SV against older adults, barriers to and solutions for prevention. Included were peer-reviewed and grey sources published since 2010, supported by primary research, on perceptions of SV in later life and prevention. A thematic analysis was conducted to explore key themes. Results Of 148 potentially relevant sources returned, 95 were fully read after screening titles and abstracts; 19 were critically appraised and 18 were assessed for analysis. Seven overarching themes emerged, surrounding (a) knowledge and awareness, (b) research, (c) policy changes and development, (d) intersectional prejudice, (e) SV being taboo, (f) sociocultural differences, and (g) confusion regarding the definition and nature of SV. Discussion and Implications These findings offer relevant considerations for practice, policy and research, which will be further discussed.

A Scoping Review of Bystander-Based Sexual Violence Prevention Training for College Students in Fraternities and Sororities

“…Once studies were identified, their reference lists were reviewed for other potential studies for inclusion. A detailed audit trail [ 42 ] that included the thematic outcome columns was kept in Microsoft Excel, as well as a section for the interpretations and methodologies used in all searches, data extraction, and synthesis to increase this study’s transferability, confirmability, and dependability [ 43 ].…”

Ageism, Racism, Sexism, and Work With Older Healthcare Clients: Why an Intersectional Approach Is Needed in Practice, Policy, Education, and Research

“…This is especially true for women and other members of nondominant groups in later life, as for example, women already face greater hardships than men, such as those owing to sexism and in turn, lower average pay, double standards at work and in the community, greater risks for emotional, physical, and sexual violence, and poorer treatment in the healthcare system (Chrisler et al, 2016). And the older women are, the greater their inequality (Chrisler et al, 2016), including with regard to risks for sexual violence (Bows & Westmarland, 2017), resulting trauma (Hand et al, 2021) and with this, greater health disparities and more poverty (Chrisler et al, 2016).…”

“…Structural discrimination, such as structural ageism (or widespread age-based oppression; Levy, 2022), racism (or systemic unjust treatment based on race; LaFave et al, 2022;Solomon et al, 2022), ableism (systemic oppression based on ability; Dhanani et al, 2022), sexism (systemic oppression owing to sex or gender) and heterosexism (systemic oppression of members of the LGBTQ+ community owing to sexual orientation) can ultimately impact health (Bows & Westmarland, 2017;Hand et al, 2021). Research has demonstrated that a greater reported frequency in encounters with these forms of prejudice have been predictive of more problems with physical health and wellness (Chrisler et al, 2016;Dhanani et al, 2022;LaFave et al, 2022;Levy, 2022).…”

“…In addition, intersectionality is used to explore how power imbalances disproportionately impact nondominant populations according to their interconnected identities (Ma et al, 2021), and Critical Feminist Gerontology is used to explore these disparities across the lifespan while advancing justice (Bows, 2018), attending to a call to address sexism and ageism in efforts to attend to longstanding health disparities experienced by older women (Carmel, 2019). These frameworks complement the Social Ecological Model, which acknowledges that health inequity is linked with unequal access to resources, thus, confronting the notion that health can be understood without multilevel considerations, namely at individual, relational, organizational, and societal levels (Golden & Wendel, 2020;Hand, 2020;Hand et al, 2021).…”

“…Further, ageism should be considered a key aspect of diversity in healthcare education (e.g., in social work, psychology, psychiatry, nursing, public health, and other related healthcare disciplines). And more work is needed to challenge stereotypes linked with intersectional sexism and ageism (Bows, 2018;Carmel, 2019;Hand, 2020;Hand et al, 2021) nationally and globally (Carmel, 2019) in general education and particularly in education for health care professionals, to ultimately promote greater empowerment of girls and women across the life course, in efforts to strive toward greater equity.…”