Hushed Voices: Views and Experiences of Older Women on Partner Abuse in Later Life

Abstract

ᅟIntimate partner violence(IPV) in later life is a topic that is in its infancy in India. IPV among elderly women in particular has largely been overlooked by researchers as well as by the service providers primarily because the society doesn’t recognise IPV in later life. Moreover, it gets gleaned over because of the incertitude about categorising the violence inflicted upon elderly women by their partners under the fold of Elder Abuse(EA) or Domestic Violence(DV). People working in the area of Domestic Violence usually provide services to the women in their 20s and 30s and not to women older than 50 experiencing similar abusive relationships. People working in the area of Elder Abuse focus on abuse perpetrated by children and caregivers and not on abuse by partners. This confucion of categorisation has led to a complete neglect of this area of public health concern. The present exploratory study was designed to understand the causes, patterns and psychosocial consequences of IPV among elderly women (50 years and above). Using a multi-method approach, this qualitative study aims to identify key themes, and issues related to causes and consequences of IPV in later life. The data draws primarily from in-depth interviews with the survivors of abuse in later life and focus group discussions conducted with women of lower and middle class who are all 50 above. In addition to this, in-depth interviews were done with the key informants who are the service providers for such women. The survivors were chosen through critical case purposive sampling technique, while, the key informants were chosen using expert purposive sampling technique. For condensing the interviews, thematic analysis was performed. The results revealed that the perception of traditional gender roles in the society had led to preservation of women's subordinate position. When the participants of this research were growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the social bounderies of gender were extremely rigid and the wives were expected to behave in a way that was acceptable for husbands. Abuse mostly started in early age and tended to continue in later life. But the form of abuse often changes as the couples became older. Physical abuse declined with age and was replaced by psychological abuse. Lack of support in old age and the stigma attached to divorce were the biggest restraining factors. Most women reported education and mass media as the primary agents of change. The psychological and social consequences included recourse to substance use, withdrawal from social life, low self- esteem, etc. The study has implications both for policy making and clinical practice.