This submission is based on Human Rights Watch research on human rights issues impacting older women, including domestic violence, abuse, and neglect in residential institutions for older people, abuses during armed conflict, and health disparities.
April 16, 2021 10:50AM EDT | Statement
Submission to the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on the human rights of older women
This submission is based on Human Rights Watch research on human rights issues impacting older women,[1] including domestic violence, abuse, and neglect in residential institutions for older people, abuses during armed conflict, and health disparities.
Violence against Older Women
Older women may be at heightened risk of domestic violence, by partners, adult children, or other family with whom they live, or from caregivers.[2] The World Health Organization regards violence against older people, including older women, as physical, psychological, and sexual violence, financial abuse, and neglect.[3] This violence can occur in but is not limited to homes, long-term care facilities, and the internet. Covid-19 lockdown orders, which in some places lasted longer or were exclusively targeted