On Thursday May 14th, I had the honour of attending one of three sessions moderated by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem to consult on assessment, prevention and protection of violence against older women. The sessions were intended as a follow-up to the written submission process in April this year to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Violence Against Older Women, in which NCWNZ participated.
Each session was three hours, involving different participants. At the session I attended, there were a total of seventeen women from Europe, Africa, India, South America, the Middle East, Australia and two of us from Aotearoa New Zealand. We were advised of the topics ahead of time.
Ms. Reem made clear in her preamble to the session that although sessions were recorded and transcribed, these materials would not be made available to participants. We introduced ourselves, said who we represented, then dived into the first question. I spoke first, making sure to highlight that I was presenting the contributions of our members. There were some very smart people on the call, and Reem guided everyone competently and efficiently, while also being approachable and warm.
The first hour focused on the definition of 'older women' and the types of violence they face. I mentioned that in Aotearoa New Zealand, we usually refer to older people as those ages 65+, based on pension eligibility, although Māori women are often classified as “older” from ages 55+. I also mentioned that these classifications were not specific to women, and that NCWNZ’s membership had not been canvassed on the specific definition of 'older women'.
A lively discussion developed around non-chronological indicators of 'older women', given the many social roles women inhabit in their life span, the contexts of their lives, and their health. Physical and mental function were suggested as markers, while also acknowledging the difference between using societal or policy structures as a basis for definition vs. subjective positions on aging (e.g., feeling older or younger than one’s chronological age). An example of context informing subjective ideas of age included sex workers in Colombia, who are potentially exposed to a lifetime of violence and are considered old or feel old themselves when it is not reflected in their chronological age.
We discussed emerging types of abuse, such as abuse by neglect. The example was given of older women living alone in Gaza, who have limited access to aid supplies, and are often left behind when displacement orders are given. Another example was administrative violence; for example, recognising that mistakes in benefit payments by organisations are also a form of violence, given that older women are often living payment-to-payment.
The second hour focused on best practices of governments and other stakeholders to prevent and protect older women from violence. It was evident from participants’ contributions that there was a dearth of government-led best practices that specifically focused on older women. Based on NCWNZ members’ input to our initial submission, I stated that organisations receiving government funding or contracts were required to submit monthly reports of any abuse complaints to the NZ Ministry of Health, and although these data are often not reported as disaggregated by age or sex. I also mentioned the reporting mechanisms available to the women themselves. Others mentioned the usefulness of surveys with disaggregated data, although it was acknowledged that such data collection methods are not usually analysed by sex and/or age. There were two stand-out best practices for me:
- The Indian government, through the Nirbhaya Fund, provides funding and wrap-around services for women affected by violence; and
- The availability of services (financial support, healthcare access, social welfare) for sex workers in Colombia from both community and government sources.
Notably, these interventions were not specifically focused on older women.
The third and final hour was devoted to recommendations for prevention, assistance, and protection. There were many recommendations made by the group. I summarized recommendations from NCWNZ members, of which there were many! I suggest reading the April submission if members would like a reminder (download .pdf file from NCWNZ website here).
Many of our recommendations were echoed by other countries. Further recommendations included: recognition of all types of violence against older women, including sexual violence; international training methods for medical professionals and social workers to recognize domestic violence and its potentially delayed ramifications; a lifespan approach to violence prevention; and collecting and reporting data that is disaggregated in terms of both sex and age. For rural women, who often live alone in isolated areas, recommended actions included providing mobile health clinics, housing options, and support during natural disasters.
Overall, the three-hour session was informative, productive, and enjoyable. Somewhat unfortunately, it was comforting to find that Aotearoa New Zealand is not unusual in its lack of focus on older women. However, this potentially presents an opportunity for NCWNZ to be a trend-setter when it comes to older women’s health and well-being, particularly in the field of violence protection.
The Special Rapporteur’s report will be published online, which I’m told will be at https://mandates.un.org/. Once the specific mandate has been forwarded to consultation participants, I’ll circulate the link to NCWNZ members.
I really enjoyed the opportunity to participate in this process.
By
Nicky Newton
NCWNZ Submissions Coordination Committee