Older people are more likely to be abused by their partners than by a family member, new research shows.
Researchers from the Universities of Hull, Durham and City of London are the first to examine Crime Survey data on domestic abuse of older people in England and Wales.
Their analysis, published today, challenges commonly held assumptions about the victims of domestic abuse and the risk factors that lead to abuse.
It is hoped the research could have an impact on how services that address domestic abuse and support older people assess and manage risk, helping to ensure that abuse by both partners and family members is properly identified.
The study also found that:
- three percent of older adults experienced some form of domestic abuse in the past year.
- Older women were more likely to experience partner abuse, but there was no difference in risk of family abuse between older men and women.
The study is the first analysis of data on domestic abuse of adults aged 60-74 years old using the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Iain Brennan, Professor of Criminology at the University of Hull said: “This is the first analysis of data collected for this age group within the Crime Survey for England and Wales, and it shows that domestic abuse is no respecter of age.
“Our research has yielded valuable information about older people who are at risk of abuse, and about those who abuse their family members.
“Crucially, for organisations that work with older people and those that deal with domestic abuse, it shows that assumptions that may have been made in the past are not safe.
“People later in life experience abuse and it is more likely to be their partners rather than other family members who abuse them. They are more likely to experience abuse as their health declines.
“These findings may have an important bearing on the policies and practices of services that deal with domestic abuse and who support older people, on the way they assess and manage risks to ensure that abuse of older people, both by partners and family members, is properly identified.”
Older people who were unemployed or economically inactive were two and half times more likely to be a victim. In contrast to younger adults, where women are at greater risk of being victimised by a family member, women and men are equally at risk when they are older the study finds. Most other risk factors were broadly the same for both older and younger victims.
The study, led by Durham University, is published in the European Journal of Criminology.
It looked at various types of abuse by a domestic perpetrator, including force, threats, sexual assault, stalking and non-physical abuse. Domestic perpetrators could be an intimate partner or ex-partner, or a family member.
Previous analysis has shown that over 25 per cent of domestic homicide cases in the UK are of people over 60, despite this age group only accounting for 18 per cent of the population.
The current study shows that around three per cent of older adults in England and Wales are victims of domestic abuse each year, which equates to approximately 280,000 people. In comparison, around six per cent of people between 16-59 experience domestic abuse each year.
The team analysed data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) on domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking. The CSEW is a nationally representative annual household survey commissioned by the Office for National Statistics. It samples around 35,000 people each year and has a response rate of around 70 per cent.
The survey previously had an age-cap of 59 for the collection of data on domestic abuse of older adults. This was increased to 74 and in 2020, the age-cap was lifted altogether.
Source information
“Domestic abuse in later life: A secondary analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales.”, published in the European Journal of Criminology, by Professor Hannah Bows (Durham University), Merili Pullertis (City University of London) and Professor Iain Brennan (University of Hull).