The ANROWS Digital Library provides links to a broad range of evidence in the violence against women sector including research papers, reports and resources.

The library is committed to providing access to high-quality and accessible (open access) evidence to ensure that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have access to research and resources that are relevant to their work in the prevention of violence against women.

Please note that some content such as journal articles and books are restricted from public access due to copyright restrictions. Please refer to the information on the record to locate these resources externally.

If you have any questions or need help accessing resources, please contact publications@anrows.org.au.


  1. ANROWS Archive
  2. ANROWS Digital Library: Complete collection
  3. Miscellaneous
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/17893
Record ID: 6ff4d3e0-7766-4e05-8fd2-f1e24fe9c2d4
Electronic Resources: http://bit.ly/2kacS64
Web resource: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11941/1/Full_final_thesis_PDF_version.pdf
Type: Thesis
Title: Rape and serious sexual assault against women aged 60 and over
Authors: Bows, Hannah
Keywords: Impact of violence;Older people;Mental health;Women;Sexual abuse;Violence;Service provision;Sexual assault
ANRA Topic: Sexual violence and sexual harassment
Year: 2017
Publisher: Durham University
Notes:  "Despite the vast amount of research attention examining sexual violence against women, and an increase in research around abuse of older people over the last two decades, sexual violence against people aged 60 and over remains under-researched. As the world population continues to rapidly age, there is a pressing need to address this gap in research in order to inform policy and practice in preventing and responding to sexual violence. This thesis contributes to three existing, but currently distinct, fields of inquiry: elder abuse; domestic violence against older women; and sexual violence against older women.

A multi-methodological multi-stage approach was adopted to examine the extent and nature of sexual violence against older women in the UK and the characteristics of victims,
perpetrators and incidents through analysis of police data gained through Freedom of Information requests. Interviews with 23 practitioners working in sexual violence organisations and 4 working in age-related organisations shed light on some of the challenges older survivors may experience when accessing support services, the key support needs of older survivors and the extent to which practitioners felt comfortable in meeting those needs.

Gaps in current service provision were also explored. In the final stage, three women survivors of sexual violence since the aged of 60 shared their stories, in particular the physical and emotional impacts sexual violence had on the and providing accounts of their experiences of accessing support services. Their thoughts on issues with current support provision and existing gaps were also shared. This thesis considers these findings collectively to examine for the first time the extent, nature and impacts of sexual violence against
women aged 60 and over.
Abstract.
Open source
URI: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/17893
Appears in Collections:Miscellaneous

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat  
Full_final_thesis_PDF_version.pdfFull_final_thesis_PDF_version.pdf3.36 MBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open
Show full item record


Items in ANROWS library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Who's citing