How professionals working with older people can better identify/support LGBTQ+ survivors of DA

Here is a really informative blog from Hourglass by a Brighton based Indepedent Dv Advisor working with older people in the LGBTQ+ communities.

February marks LGBT+ History Month and to mark this, Hourglass would like to highlight and raise awareness of the challenges faced by older abuse victims who are members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Raf, an LGBTQ+ Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) is looking at how organisations can further provide support for older LGBTQ+ survivors of abuse. To do this, they’re examining a number of statistics collected by National LGBT abuse charity Galop, along with a case study that involves the Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) into the death of Mr. C, who sadly lost his life in 2012 at the hands of his partner.

Galop’s 2020 report 'LGBT+ people’s experiences of domestic abuse’, states that victims/survivors over the age of 50 report the highest levels of abuse across all types of abuse, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a family member or intimate partner. Older people face significant barriers when help-seeking, including having fewer support networks and having different responses to domestic abuse than younger people.

The levels of distrust for example, in criminal justice systems are incredibly high in older people, many of whom will have experienced historic abuse and discrimination from the state. Due to this, many older people feel completely disenfranchised by support services. Older people over the age of 50 within Galop services only accounted for 12% of their caseload, with only 1% of their service users being aged 65 or over. These statistics show that more needs to be done to help heal from historic injustices and services need to be able to show LGBTQ+ older people that they are supportive, open and inclusive.

Read more on We Are Hourglass (formerly Action on Elder Abuse)