Thank you very much. Good morning, Madam Chair, and members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. My name is Kathy Majowski, and I'm honoured to be here as a representative for and chair of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.
The CNPEA is a pan-Canadian network supported by leaders in aging, research, health care and elder-abuse prevention and response. We connect people and organizations. We foster the exchange of reliable information, and advance program and policy development on issues related to preventing the abuse of older adults. Our work focuses on gathering and disseminating adaptable resources, best practices and current research in policy developed by Canadian expert stakeholders, to increase our collective capacity to address and prevent abuse of older adults.
Our vision is a Canadian society where older adults are valued and respected, and live free from abuse. We have based the following presentation on some of these organizations' recent work.
In this presentation, we would like to focus on intimate partner violence, as it relates to older women; social isolation; barriers to safety, and recommendations to address these challenges; as well as ways to better support older women, in order to enhance their well-being and safety.
Older women's lives are often impacted by the dual effects of sexism and ageism. These barriers can increase if a woman is indigenous or an immigrant, or belongs to other linguistic, sexual and/or ethnocultural minority groups. These factors compound older women's vulnerability to poverty, homelessness, poor health, social isolation and various forms of abuse. Overlapping issues can only be addressed with policies and approaches that override the usual silos between sectors. They will also require understanding and considering the diversity of backgrounds and life experiences of the most vulnerable older women.
With regard to intimate partner violence, safety and abuse are key concerns for girls and women of all ages, and these issues do not improve or disappear as women enter the later stages of their lives. Some have experienced violence and abuse throughout their lives, whether systemic or within the framework of their family and relationships. Others are victims of abuse late in life, at home or in long-term-care settings. Overall, one in three Canadian women will experience abuse or sexual assault in their lifetime. Older women experience rates of violence higher than their male counterparts. The impacts of violence can accumulate, creating compound effects of violence experienced through the life stages.
It's important to recognize that older women are not a homogenized group. Older women who experience violence come from a variety of communities, with diverse needs, backgrounds and experiences of oppression. The term “seniors” tends to be used to describe several age groups, spanning over 40 years. These different groups could benefit from more specificity. A woman's life experience, socio-economic level, race and personal set of circumstances define her more than her age ever will. One does not suddenly acquire a whole new set of personality traits at the age of 60, 70 or 80. It's just one more layer added to a lifetime of experience.
There are some identified barriers to safety, such as providing and receiving care, where a woman who is older and living with violence may be receiving or providing care for a family member, including her abuser. There's the myth of caregiver stress, where a woman who is older may experience violence from her caregiver, who may be a family member, and the myth of the caregiver who is driven to helplessness, rage and frustration, due to overwhelming work and responsibility. These are often used to rationalize violence and abuse against women who are older.
Some women face financial insecurity. There's the need to navigate pensions, benefits and health insurance, which takes resources and time. Some women have not held paid employment, have limited employability or are past working age. There's a fear of losing one's home or community, in particular for remote and rural women. A lifelong commitment to a community, or the thought of losing her home, can make the decision to leave an abusive situation especially hard.
In addition, women who live in remote or rural communities may be faced with geographical isolation, where the nearest neighbour is kilometres away. Isolation in an abusive situation means there isn't a quick way out. This is compounded when a telephone or finances have been made inaccessible. For indigenous or immigrant women, particularly if they speak a language or languages other than English or French, the loss of home or community may be terrifying.
Because of generational beliefs, for a woman who is older and who may have more traditional attitudes regarding marriage, family, gender roles and privacy or loyalty in regard to family matters, discussing personal or family problems with strangers may seem unacceptable. Family dynamics can mean that members of the family may not support their mother or grandmothers if they either do not perceive the abuse to be significant or do not want to take on a caregiving role. A woman who is older may be faced with the shock and disbelief of friends and family who cannot accept her story of abuse.
CNPEA has organized the following recommendations to improve safety.
Support awareness campaigns to help people understand the different forms of elder abuse and the nature of domestic abuse of the aging to dispel the longstanding idea that these are private matters. Support the development of bystander intervention training programs and train-the-trainer programs. Support the development of culturally safe and appropriate, multilingual support services specifically for older women. Support the development of orientation programs to help older women and their loved ones navigate the complexities of the justice, immigration, and health care systems. Encourage the development of support programs that are accessible from home. Improve access to regular and affordable transportation in rural areas. Provide access to benefits for full-time family caregivers and provide greater financial support for senior women who are caring for their children.
The other issue we would like to briefly address is the social isolation of older women. Older women can become more vulnerable due to the narrowing of their social networks over time. Loneliness and disconnection from the community due to mobility or health issues, for instance, can affect service access and utilization and increase their vulnerability to abusive and neglectful situations that negatively impact their mental and physical health and create a vicious circle of poor health, alienation and vulnerability to victimization.
CNPEA would like to put forward the following recommendations to decrease isolation. Support and strengthen community-based groups and programs that play an important role in empowering older women to engage in positive help-seeking behaviours and encourage intergenerational programs and approaches, such as intergenerational housing options that can help curb housing shortages.