Aging and sexual violence are both established areas of research, but little attention has been paid to research into sexual violence against older people. This article presents a critical review of the literature reporting empirical research in three overlapping fields of inquiry: elder abuse, domestic violence, and sexual violence, identifying points of theoretical and methodological similarity and difference across academic disciplines. Using a range of search terms combining age, sexual violence, and elder abuse, the following databases were searched: EBSCOHOST, Ingenta-Ingenta connect, and JSTOR. In total, the databases searches returned 31 relevant articles and an additional 9 relevant articles were found through manual searches of bibliographies and Google searches, which were grouped into three categories: elder abuse, domestic violence in later life, and sexual violence against older people. Four themes common across these fields emerged: prevalence, characteristics of victims and risk factors, impacts and coping strategies, and perpetrator and assault characteristics. The findings in each area are discussed in detail, exposing gaps in knowledge and understandings of sexual violence against older women. The article ends by defining a future research agenda for this underexplored phenomenon that is of increasing importance in a context of global aging.
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.
Despite half a century of research on both domestic violence and elder abuse, homicide of older people by a partner or family member (domestic homicide (DH)) remains largely unexplored. This article presents data drawn from a larger parent study examining homicide of older people (aged sixty and over) in the UK. This analysis is based on a subset of cases that would fall within current definitions of DH (n = 221). Analysis reveals differences in DH of older men and women in relation to the perpetrator gender and relationship and differences between intimate-partner homicides and those perpetrated by other family members. Implications for research, theory and practice are discussed.
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