Resources and measures for the care of older women victims of gender violence. A qualitative study

Abstract

One of the greatest violations of women’s individual and collective rights is gender violence. Although it is not a new phenomenon, reality shows that it was not until a few decades ago that it was recognized as a social and health problem by public powers, which have adopted regulatory and assistance measures to protect victims of violence. gender, violence that is born from unequal power relations between women and men, the result of a patriarchal society. Gender violence is present in all evolutionary periods, as official statistics
show, although in older women it is less visible. The present study aims to know the resources and measures adopted to respond to the needs of older women victims of gender violence in specialized women’s care services. For this, a qualitative investigation was carried out, using a case design. The testimonies obtained from eight professionals who work in these services, collected through an interview, highlight the need to adapt resources to the characteristics of older women victims of gender violence and carry out prevention, training and awareness-raising actions expressly for them. In this sense, one of the main conclusions is related to the need for updated training for all professionals who work with women victims of gender violence, in order to be able to adjust their intervention to their needs. It also insists on the importance of
raising awareness and training new generations in order to reduce the number of victims of gender violence among the female population.