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Description
Gender-based violence against elderly women is a field where either the civil society or the government have sufficiently interfered. The 1st Annual Report on Violence against Women (2020) does not even present data on older women. According to the UN (2017) only 1 in 24 cases of older women abuse is reported. Most of the cases remain hidden, even the extreme ones. One of the main reasons is that the vast majority of older women do not realize that they are victims of abuse, due to established patriarchal perceptions of the position and role of women, but also due to ignorance of different forms of violence and the rights of women regardless of age. The proposed project aims to educate older women on the different forms of violence and on ways to manage abuse incidents. The overall goal is to contribute in reducing the number of women who remain silent. A series of workshops will be held for 60 women over the age of 65, and educational material will be delivered that will remain freely accessible on People Behind’s website after the completion of the project. Also, a video with information on gender-based violence against the elderly will be created. The participants will come both from the existing beneficiaries of the organization, who have already expressed the need for education on issues of gender-based violence, and from open calls to new beneficiaries. This will be a pilot project for People Behind. According to the results and the feedback the organization will continue with larger-scale programs on violence against elderly women along with other organizations, filling a significant gap in the field. Breaking down stereotypes and enhancing education in this age group is a long process that can fundamentally improve the life quality of older women.
Summary of project results
The Women''s Empowerment 65+ project responded to the need to educate and empower women older than 65+ in gender-based violence and abuse, in order to help reduce the number of women who remain silent. Gender-based violence among older people is an area in which civil society actors and government agencies have not sufficiently intervened. Even the 1st Annual Report on Violence against Women (2020) does not present data on older persons. According to the UN (2017) only 1 in 24 cases of elder abuse of older women is reported, and abuse generally remains hidden, even in extreme cases. One of the main reasons is that an overwhelming proportion of older women do not realise that they are victims of abuse, due to entrenched patriarchal notions of women''s status and role, and also due to ignorance of the different forms of violence and women''s rights regardless of age.
The People Behind team created training materials tailored to the needs of older women covering the following topics: forms of violence, gender-based violence in older people, women''s rights, stereotypes-beliefs-patriarchal patterns, management of abuse incidents and agencies to support battered women. Following two online participation calls (September & November 2022), 63 women 65+, divided into groups, attended a series of training workshops where they were informed and discussed around the issues of gender-based violence. The training material was used as a basis for education and dialogue, triggering further sharing of women''s experiences and views around the issue of violence. The workshops were implemented online, through the online platform of the University of Third Age, enabling women living outside Attica (Serres, Nafplio, Corfu, Patras, Evia) and outside Greece (Cyprus) to actively participate. Throughout the project, the beneficiaries had access to the educational material through the online platform, while at the end of the workshops they received it via email so that they could refer to it and draw information at any time they wanted and share it with their families and with their relatives in general. There was also created an awareness raising video on gender-based violence in the Third Age. It is an animated video, where an older woman gradually becomes a victim of neglect and verbal and psychological abuse by an intimate person. The theme of the video was developed gradually, triggered by the workshop "Storytelling for communicating the impact of our projects", which was held in the framework of the Active Citizens Fund project, but also through the experience of the organization''s team during the implementation of the project. Finally, an Instagram Poll was conducted over 10 days, where every day the public answered knowledge questions about gender-based violence in the Third Age. 481 answers were given to 19 questions aimed at informing and raising public awareness about the issue of abuse of older women.
With the completion of the project "Empowering Women 65+", 63 women over 65 years old were informed, trained and empowered in the recognition of different forms of violence and stereotypes and how these are linked to the violation of fundamental human rights. With this knowledge shared among the group of women and with the training materials, the direct beneficiaries can act as transmitters of knowledge and/or support to other women in their home environment. The project as a whole has contributed in the medium and long term to reducing the number of women who remain silent, raising awareness of an issue that remains largely untouched by civil society and the state. Another positive result is that the beneficiaries improved and/or broadened their knowledge about the ways of managing incidents of violence and were informed about institutions, structures, call centres and websites that they can contact themselves or recommend to other women, both in terms of reporting an incident of gender violence and seeking help and psychological support. Registration, information and education on these issues helped to increase their safety and protection from society. The fact that the project implementation team did not ask the participants to report whether they are or have been victims of gender-based violence in the past contributed to a free and constructive dialogue about the impact that an abusive relationship usually has on public health issues, e.g. burden on physical and mental health, depression and anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse.