Women over 60 suffer the same type of violence as any other woman, says Xóchitl Arzola Vargas, director of the Women in Chain Association for a Decent Life. "As in any group, women are the most violent, but in the case of those who are older, they also suffer institutional violence", she says.
The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that, in 2018, approximately 1 in 6 people over 60 years old suffered abuse in community settings worldwide. The death of an older woman in the mayor''s office, Gustavo A. Madero, on February 18, was added to the ten femicides committed in Mexico City so far this 2020.
The woman''s body found by one of her children was lying next to a jukebox with bruises and a rope tied around her neck.
Institutional violence towards older adults
In an interview with La Cadera de Eva, Xóchitl Arzola said that older adults also experience institutional violence. The Program for the Well-being of Older Adults has modified the age range to 68 years old when financial support is granted. For Indigenous people, the age was reduced to 65. "I need a walker, and the bathroom in my house is apart from my room. The relatives that I live with give me hardships, and they were continually attacking me. When I wanted to report this, I was told that to proceed with a case; I have to be battered or bleed".
And I ask myself what about verbal abuse like bastard, blind, old lady, etc. Since I suffer from glaucoma, I need to apply eye drops that cost over $ 200, isn''t this punished too? "Says a 66-year-old woman in the Study on Discrimination against Older Persons".
Arzola''s concerns lie in the age range of vulnerable women who are left unprotected. The case of a 63-year-old woman with a disability cannot have health care to attend to her condition since it''s only offered to young people.
The age range between 60 and 68 is unprotected; they are people who have to seek employment and remain in a state of helplessness since they do not have access to health.
"I divorced my husband, but he still lives in the house and verbally and physically abuses me. I am afraid that if I were to be on the roof of the house, he would push me into the void", says a 63-year-old woman.
Many seniors that count on a retirement "have to contribute that money to solve the economy of a complete family, there are worst-case scenarios where the children take over their credit cards", says Arzola, who works with abused women in the State of Mexico.
The severity of the violence is double since they are groups that don''t have access to any of the information available. "Because of their age, no one pays attention, and they are invisible to the State. Besides, older women are not aware of the information that a young woman can have, for example, filing a police report. An older adult often doesn''t have this possibility", denounces the activist.
(María José Pardo)