Thank you. I'm very pleased to present to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
In my remarks today, I will examine some of the background information relevant to a study of violence against older women. I will also prioritize the voices of marginalized older women by sharing the experiences of two women, Mei and Darlene, both of whom have experienced elder abuse. Their names and some other critical information have been changed.
I will close with some key messages.
Violence against girls and women is ubiquitous. For females, exposure to violence occurs across the lifespan, beginning in childhood and extending into adulthood and, indeed, old age. Young girls in Canada are at the greatest risk for all forms of child abuse and neglect compared to boys, according to the best available evidence. The gender difference is particularly dramatic in the incidence of child sexual abuse, with a three-fold difference observed. This gender difference is also noted globally.
The General Social Survey of Canada reports similar rates of victimization between men and women in adulthood. These studies, however, fail to account for the context or the outcome of violence. DeKeseredy and Dragiewicz argue that the characterization of violence as sex-symmetrical is unwarranted, because of the magnitude of men's violence against intimates as well as the gendered cultural environment that propagates violence against women.
Despite the limitation in existing statistical evidence, there is much to say that in Canada women are more likely than men to be victims of the most severe forms of spousal assault, as well as spousal homicide, sexual assault, and criminal harassment. Women are five times more likely to be killed by intimates than are men, whose greatest risk of homicide is from strangers or acquaintances.
The disproportionate rates of violence against women are also reported internationally. A World Health Organization study concluded that one of the most common forms of violence against women is that performed by a husband or a male partner.
Canada's population is rapidly aging. Consequently, issues related to older adults, such as violence against older women, must be a priority. The importance of elder abuse research is justified by the serious psychological, physical, and economic consequences of elder abuse, which have been estimated at more than $500 million a year.
A growing body of evidence suggests that different types of violence, from childhood to older age, share similar etiologies, risk, and protective factors. Victims of one form of violence are at greater risk of experiencing another form. Different forms of violence may occur simultaneously in the same family or in the same person. The presence of one form of violence may be a strong predictor of the existence of other forms in that setting.
Many definitions of elder abuse have been offered, none of which have been accepted universally. Recent definitions have taken more of a human rights approach in looking at the violence against older adults. A recent analysis of the prevalence rates of spousal abuse for older adults using the General Social Survey data found no difference based on gender. However, once again, these studies suffer from flaws, as previously outlined.
The World Health Organization identified populations of older adults at increased risk for abuse. These include women, those living in poverty, the very old, and individuals with limited functional capacity. Race and ethnicity have also been implicated.
In this next section, I will provide some information on two of these populations, with an illustrative case for each.
The first is immigrant women. As the Canadian population ages, it is also becoming increasingly ethnoculturally diverse. Presently, immigrants represent a considerably large group among older adults in Canada, with women comprising the greater proportion of older immigrants.
Despite this demographic trend, little is known about the key issues facing older immigrant women. A key concern for women across their lifespans is violence against women. While considerable research is emerging on violence against women and on abuse of older adults, a dearth of Canadian research exists on older immigrants' experience of violence.
Now I'm going to talk about Mei. After she was widowed at age 68, Mei emigrated from Hong Kong to Calgary as a family class sponsored immigrant. Sponsored by her son, she was initially happy to be reunited with him, his wife, and their two young children.
She soon realized that her role as esteemed elder and head of the household was not recognized in this new setting. Instead, her role was to cook, clean, and care for her grandchildren. She also turned over her substantial assets to help her family. She was often chastised for her inability to care for her grandchildren. They didn't listen to her and she could not communicate with them. She spoke only Mandarin; they spoke only English.
The relationship between her and her daughter-in-law deteriorated. It seemed as if Mei could never do enough or do it right. Her son did not want to take sides, and she was reluctant to speak to him about these issues. Her son decided to invest her money in a condo in Chinatown. Initially Mei was supportive of this, as she thought it would be a good investment. When the tension between Mei and her daughter-in-law continued to escalate, her son moved her into the condo. The condo was without furniture; she had a mattress to sleep on.
Mei found out that she was not on the lease, which was solely in her son's name, and all of her assets had been used by her son. She thought of returning to Hong Kong, but had no means of doing so. She had no one to turn to. Despite her shame and despair, she sought help from an immigrant-serving agency. There was little they could do. She was not a landed immigrant and thus fell through the cracks in terms of service.
The settlement worker had been helping her with gift certificates to buy food. When the worker offered to speak to her son, Mei refused. She did not want to bring dishonour to her family. He was not to know that she had told anyone.
The second population is aboriginal women. In 2009, 13% of all aboriginal women aged 15 and older had been violently victimized. This is almost three times the rate for non-aboriginal women. Less is known about the violence against older aboriginal women specifically.
The high rates of violence experienced by aboriginal women must be put in the context of the legacy of marginalization and oppression due to colonialism, patriarchy, and the effects of Euro-Canadian governance on their lives. Residential schools have also left a permanent mark on survivors. Aboriginal persons who attended residential schools were unable to learn and model healthy gender roles, and frequently experienced all forms of abuse.
Currently, aboriginal women in Canada are disadvantaged by social factors and structural inequities that pose barriers to their optimum wellness. Overcrowding and inadequate housing, under- and unemployment, poverty, addictions, violence of all forms, and limited supports are characteristics of the lives of aboriginal women.
Now I'm going to share the story of Darlene. Darlene is a 65-year-old Cree woman who lives on a small reserve in northern Ontario. She describes herself as a traditional woman who took a long time to find her path. She says the residential school beat it out of her. She currently lives alone in a small house that she describes as just held together by a couple of nails. But it is her home and she is proud of it. She lives on a pension. Darlene says she doesn't have much, but she gets by.
She worries a lot about the people in her community, especially her grandchildren. When she gets her pension cheque each month, she knows that her grandchildren and their friends will come to visit. Sometimes this is okay; she feeds them and talks to them and they have a good time.
Most times, it's not okay. Sometimes they demand money, especially when they have been drinking. If she says no, sometimes they push her and take her purse anyway. Darlene worries a lot about money. Will she have enough to last until the end of month? Will she be able to get her medication? She doesn't really blame her grandchildren. She says that she wasn't always a very good mother. How could she be? She never saw her own parents after she was six years of age.
Darlene thinks sometimes that if she just tries to help her grandchildren and the other kids in the community, things will be better. She talked to the community health representative about the situation. When the representative talked about calling the police, Darlene got scared. Now she doesn't want to talk to anyone. She doesn't want her grandchildren to have to go through what she did.
The family violence literature is replete with examples of failure to recognize, detect, and appropriately intervene in cases of abuse. Problems in recognition and reporting of elder abuse have been noted in the literature, as well as the fear of retaliation, loss of family relationships, shame and embarrassment, and a lack of knowledge about or access to services. This may be higher in some ethnocultural communities.
The key recommendation to the Canadian government for research directions in support of elder abuse policy work was the need to collect data on the prevalence and incidence of elder abuse through large-scale and small-scale surveys of older adults residing in the community and in institutional settings. This data is necessary because, as Johnson argues, “decision-makers require clear understanding of the nature and severity of the social problems in order to develop effective responses”.
I have four key messages.
Older adults in Canada have the right to live in safe and secure environments that optimize their ability to have maximum control in making decisions about their lives. In Canada, there exists a critical need for data on the prevalence of violence against older adults; this knowledge is necessary to inform policy and programming initiatives aimed at reducing violence and ameliorating the associated harms. Research is currently under way with the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly to clarify definitions and measurement issues concerning elder abuse and neglect. This work provides the foundational knowledge to conduct rigorous and methodologically sound prevalence and incidence studies.
Attention to the accurate assessment of violence against older adults should also attend to populations defined as “heightened risk”, including the old, very old women, the disabled, aboriginal persons, and immigrants. Researchers across Canada have done some of the preliminary work required to develop a program of research on the prevention of abuse and neglect among older immigrant women. This work could be useful in developing measures and tools that are culturally appropriate.