Week 3 - Centering Older Adults

By Victoria Ferguson-Young, Victim Services Coordinator at the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL)

Note from NRCDV: This week, we welcome guest blogger Victoria Ferguson-Young from National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life, who reflects on what it means and why it’s so important to center older adults in our work to address and prevent gender-based violence. Victoria calls on all of us to engage in advocacy is not just broad, but also deep. She reflects on how we can achieve safety, respect, and dignity for people of all ages when we center the needs and experiences of older adults.

As we embrace the theme of Heal, Hold and Center this October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), I’m reflecting and thinking about the final word in the theme, center. To center as a transitive verb means “to give a central focus” and it requires a person or thing to act upon (Merriam-Webster, 2024). As you reflect and think about domestic violence and increasing awareness about its dire impact, I invite you to center the older adult victims and survivors of our communities. Centering older adults is not just about raising awareness—it’s about ensuring that systems, services, and support networks are equipped to meet their specific needs because the intersection of aging and domestic violence presents unique challenges that demand our attention and action.

Domestic violence among older adults is a growing, yet frequently hidden, epidemic. This tragic reality is a form of elder abuse which refers to “any physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, or financial exploitation of an older person either within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust and/or when an older person is targeted based on age or disability” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014). In fact, elder abuse is severely underreported with just 1 in 24 cases coming to light (Lachs, M., & Berman, J., 2011). Further, abuse in later life is the segment of elder abuse that focuses on abuse of adults age 50+ in ongoing, trust-based relationships, with a particular emphasis on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking (NCALL, 2023). Individuals who are female, male, transgender, cisgender, and gender non-conforming may be victims of abuse in later life, however, the majority of older victims of intimate partner violence and sexual abuse in later life are women (Acierno, R., Hernandez, M. A., Amstadter, A. B., Resnick, H. S., Steve, K., Muzzy, W., & Kilpatrick, D. G., 2010).

Many older victims endure elder abuse and abuse in later life in silence, often because it is perpetrated by those they rely on for care, like family members, spouses, or caregivers. Older adults living with health challenges and cognitive impairments can be targets for abusers, and they often experience forms of abuse not commonly seen in younger populations, such as financial exploitation and neglect. Ageism fuels the fire of abuse by seeking to diminish the value of older adults through exclusion, invisibility, and discrimination – each making it more difficult for older adults to seek help. Additionally, with all baby boomers turning 65 by 2030 and 78.3 million Americans falling in that age group by 2040, the older adult population is growing at one of the fastest rates in the country (National Council on Aging, June 2024). This rapid growth means it is critical to center accessibility needs of victim services and adapt outreach efforts to effectively reach and connect with more older adults.

For me, as the Victim Services Coordinator for the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL), my journey began as a domestic violence safehouse advocate over 17 years ago, and since that time I’ve come to understand that the needs of older adults are too often overshadowed by more visible issues and younger survivors. My experiences have taught me that this oversight is more than just a gap but a profound disservice to those who continue to face significant risks and barriers in their day-to-day lives. It is time for more advocates and agencies to center this growing population.

Now, as we each consider and contemplate the entire DVAM 2024 theme of Heal, Hold and Center, I’m asking each of you to continue the work of creating healing services, holding safe places, and centering the voices, needs, and experiences of survivors across the lifespan – and I implore you to build on that by thinking carefully about older adults. Let’s ensure that our advocacy is not just broad, but also deep, seeking to reach into every corner where silent suffering occurs. As you think about what it may look like for you and your agency to center older adult survivors, I encourage you to connect with senior centers, aging networks, adult protective service agencies, and culturally specific organizations in your community to build or strengthen the important community partnerships necessary to meet older adult needs. It will take strategic and sustainable collaborations with these entities and others to provide the most effective services and care for older adults.

Finally, when we center older adults, we honor the dignity and resilience of those who are normally overlooked, and when we work together with community partners to do this, we contribute to a more just and equitable world, where every individual, regardless of age, can achieve safety, respect, and dignity.