Silence won’t stop sexual violence against women

There is a “silent” epidemic causing pain and anguish for many older Australians, and abuse advocates are calling for victims to step into the light. Authorities and family members may have turned a blind eye to sexual violence in the home in decades gone by, but Mandy Strange, Manager of Better Place Australia Elder Abuse Prevention Services in Melbourne and across Victoria, is campaigning for better services to help the nation’s older women deal with the trauma.

“Many older women experienced abuse as young children, then they experienced abuse as newly married women, and it’s just been a continual picture, and so there’s a normalising that’s happened.” She said sexual violence cases are likely underreported due to victims staying silent and inconsistent national data collection.

In a 2021-22 ABS survey, about 17,300 women aged 55 and over said they had experienced sexual violence in the past two years. Many women did not report the most recent incident to the police. About a third of them felt they could handle the situation alone, didn’t consider it serious, or felt embarrassed or ashamed. A fifth feared the perpetrator and a quarter believed they wouldn’t be taken seriously.

The National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study, published in December 2021 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, found similar reasons for non-disclosure. Ms Strange said other reasons for non-disclosure included not recognising the concept of rape within a marriage and for some, assumed or culturally defined expectations of marriage. “For that Silent Generation (people born between 1925-1945), sexual abuse didn’t even have a name.” She said the terms sexual assault, sexual violence, sexual abuse or unlawful sexual contact are unlikely to be used by older women.

Ms Strange said conditioning in younger years prevented many women from reporting incidents. For instance, women who are now in their 70s were often dismissed and told to “cope” when they reported to the police or confided in someone 50 years ago. “We see women now where when we say to them, ‘If you’re in danger, please call the police’, they say to us, ‘well, we won’t’.”

Older women may also find they are silenced by their family when they are sexually assaulted by an intimate partner or other family member. Ms Strange has seen instances of triumph where women have spoken out and sought help. “An incredible amount of women (often) in their late 60s to late 70s… actually say, “I’ve had enough of this awful marriage and I’m leaving. It’s a privilege to be a part of that. They’ve put up with all sorts of abuse for 40 and 50 years, and they make a cognizant decision that for their final chapters of life, they want to lead it the way they want to.”

Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Men’s Referral Service 1300 776 491; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732; National Elder Abuse 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374)

Mandy Strange will be a speaker at Elder Abuse Action, Australia’s 2024 Australian Elder Abuse Conference, to be held in Adelaide from July 22-24. Visit conference.eaaa.org.au for more information.