DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST ELDERLY WOMEN

OBJECTIVE To describe the experiences of four elderly abused women to better understand the influence of violence on their lives and the imp lications for intervention by family physicians. DESIGN Qualitative ca se presentations of four elderly women who participated in a hospital- based domestic violence intervention program. SETTING The Domestic Vio lence Program of Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, an int ervention program based in the emergency department. PARTICIPANTS Four English-speaking working-class women ranging from 63 to 73 years of a ge who had experienced battering by male partners and who volunteered after expressing interest in follow-up service by the Domestic Violenc e Program. METHOD Qualitative analysis of the oral narratives of the f our participants. FINDINGS Eleven themes emerging from the women's nar ratives were identified and illustrated with verbatim quotations: the marriage licence as a hitting licence, violence in the family of origi n, powerlessness, women treated as objects, survival, barriers to leav ing, memories linked to children's ages, community support, turning po ints, integrating and processing experiences of abuse, and witnessing and helping other women. CONCLUSIONS The abuse these women endured gre atly influenced their lives and health.