NHCVA Congressional Breakfast Briefing

1 thought on “NHCVA Congressional Breakfast Briefing”

1. I hope this is a very successful event. I’m sorry that we could not be there in person. Last year, Redbook did an article about domestic violence. In preparation for the article, they solicited personal stories from women throughout the U.S. Their only restriction: stories were welcome from those 18-49 years old. After decades of fighting sexism, they unwittingly weighed in on the side of ageism. One of every four women and girls in the U.S. is 50 years of age or older. Recent research shows that 1 in 10 older Americans are victims of abuse or neglect. Two thirds of those abused are women. The ACA includes the Elder Justice Act, the first piece of federal legislation dedicated to elder abuse, yet there has been no appropriation for the elder justice provisions of the ACA to date. It is so important to identify lifetime consequences of childhood trauma. While research has not yet formally explored the connection between childhood abuse and elder abuse, anecdotal evidence shows that many abused older women have previously experienced either child abuse or IPV or both. We hope that future briefings will include information about the consequences of abuse in later life, whether it be in the context of an intimate relationship, between parents and adult children, or others. Elder abuse victims die at 3x the rate of the non-abused, cost our health care system billions of dollars each year, and suffer physical, emotional, sexual and other types of pain generally in silence (see Redbook reference above). Thank you.

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