‘You Can’t Do That!’ The Sexual Assault of Older Women in Australia

Mann, Rosemary; Horsley, Philomena; Tinney, Jean

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-16601-4_4

Cited by 12 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…By examining the impacts of sexual violence on older people and the challenges in accessing support through a critical feminist gerontology lens, it can be argued that older survivors can experience a double disadvantage or “double jeopardy” ( Mann et al, 2014 , p. 20) rooted in ageism and sexism. The lack of awareness and acceptance of sexual violence in later life reflect ageist and sexist attitudes toward older people.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This again reflects the emergence of elder abuse as a separate and distinct phenomenon from domestic and sexual violence, despite the obvious overlaps not only in definitions but in the perpetration and victimization of the abuse. In practice, this has led to an “ideological gulf” ( Scott, McKie, Morton, Seddon, & Wassof, 2004 , p. 7) meaning current support services are not working together, an issue acknowledged elsewhere ( Mann et al, 2014 ). All 23 practitioners suggested that joint campaigns and joint training to raise awareness and encourage cross referrals between organizations may encourage older people affected by sexual violence to engage with services, echoing the findings in Mann et al’s (2014) study.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, this has led to an “ideological gulf” ( Scott, McKie, Morton, Seddon, & Wassof, 2004 , p. 7) meaning current support services are not working together, an issue acknowledged elsewhere ( Mann et al, 2014 ). All 23 practitioners suggested that joint campaigns and joint training to raise awareness and encourage cross referrals between organizations may encourage older people affected by sexual violence to engage with services, echoing the findings in Mann et al’s (2014) study. As Straka and Montminy (2006) previously argued, “a collaborative response is needed, accounting for both the age and gender dimensions of the problem” (p. 251).…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The existing research has found the types and nature of sexual violence experienced by older women are similar to that of younger women. For example, the vast majority of victims are female and perpetrators are male ( Bows & Westmarland, 2017 ; for a review, see Bows, 2017b ; Fileborn, 2016 ), rape tends to be the least commonly reported offense (Ball & Fowler, 2008), and the majority of victims know their perpetrator ( Bows, 2017b ; Fileborn, 2016 ; Mann, Horsley, Barrett, & Tinny, 2014 ). By contrast, there is still a poverty of research examining the effects of sexual violence on older people, their support needs and coping strategies, and experiences of accessing support services.…”

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Little is known about older people’s support needs, or the effectiveness of responses by professional practitioners, following experiences of sexual violence ( Bows, 2017b ; Mann et al, 2014 ) or intimate partner violence ( Brossoie & Roberto, 2016 ). Despite increased research examining elder abuse, there remains significant gaps in the literature specifically examining sexual violence against older people and consequently our understanding of these issues remains limited ( Fileborn, 2016 ).…”

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Practitioner Views on the Impacts, Challenges, and Barriers in Supporting Older Survivors of Sexual Violence

Bows

2017

Violence Against Women

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Despite half a century of research on both sexual violence and elder abuse, the intersection between the two remains largely unexplored. Using theoretical lenses of feminist criminology and critical feminist gerontology, this article explores the intersection between age and sexual violence drawing on interviews with 23 practitioners supporting older survivors (aged 60 and over). They reported physical and emotional effects of sexual violence leading to limited lifestyles, disengagement from social networks, and reliance on pathogenic coping strategies. Provision of effective support was complicated by challenges associated with aging bodies and the social stigma associated with both sexual victimhood and older age. Additional challenges lay in supporting older male survivors and those living with dementia. The article ends by discussing implications for practice and an agenda for future research.

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Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Implications For Policy And Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Practitioner Views on the Impacts, Challenges, and Barriers in Supporting Older Survivors of Sexual Violence

Bows

2017

Violence Against Women

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Researching Sexual Violence against Older People: Reflecting on the use of Freedom of Information Requests in a Feminist Study

Bows¹

2017

Feminist Review

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Domestic and sexual violence research has traditionally been associated with feminist qualitative methodology; however, quantitative methods are increasingly used by feminists in research examining the prevalence of and issues related to rape and sexual assault, either as standalone methods or in combination with other, qualitative methods (i.e. mixed methods). Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are a data collection tool that allow citizens to obtain data held by public authorities in the UK and are particularly useful for uncovering information on marginalised groups who may be difficult to recruit in qualitative research. Whilst they are frequently used by journalists, their potential is yet to be fully realised by social researchers. This paper reflects on the use of Freedom of Information requests in a mixed-method feminist study exploring sexual violence against people aged 60 years and over.

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