About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

34 Alaska Just. F. 1 (2017-2018)

handle is hein.journals/aljufor34 and id is 1 raw text is: 















Older Women Face Psychological and Physical Abuse


Andr6 B. Rosay


This article examines psychological and phys-
ical abuse against women in Alaska who are
aged 60 or older and compares these rates
to national rates. In 1980, there were 9,581
women   aged 60 or older in Alaska. From
1980 to 2016, the number of women  aged
60 or older increased by 550 percent, up to
62,239. This is more than 7 times the percent-
age increase in general population over that
same time period (Figure 1). In 2016, women
aged 60 or older represented 17 percent of
the total female population in Alaska. In
the next 30 years, the number of women
in Alaska aged 60 or older will continue to
grow.  Projections indicate that 81,566 to
111,833 women  will be aged 60 or older in
2045 (Figure 2).
  We  know  from the Alaska Victimization
Survey (see sidebar, p. 4) that half of all adult
women  in Alaska have experienced intimate
partner violence, sexual violence, or both in
their lifetime. Unfortunately, little is known
about the psychological and physical abuse
experienced by older women.in Alaska. Data
from the 2006-2012 Alaska Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) show that
0.8 percent of Alaskans aged 65 or older were
threatened or hurt by an intimate partner in
the past five years. Additional information
is available from the FY 2015 Senior Survey
administered to a convenience sample  of
2,280 Alaskans (both women and men) aged
55 or older. Almost one in three (29.4%) had
either personally experienced psychological


rFUlilFe  AidbKd riulleel nUlilUb UlFeLLUF VILKIe VVlII., lIlL, dilU rdlluin riulleel fUlll FeulUellL UUilb ruidilU
share a hug at Wilson's retirement party.


and physical abuse or knew someone  who
had. When  asked about the form of abuse
they had experienced or witnessed, 72 per-
cent reported financial exploitation, 69 per-
cent reported emotional abuse, 48 percent
reported neglect, 31 percent reported physi-
cal abuse, 22 percent reported abandon-
ment, 8 percent reported self-abuse, and 5
percent reported sexual abuse. Respondents
were also asked about their top concerns for
older Alaskans. More than half (65%) indi-
cated that programs to help prevent psycho-
logical and physical abuse and exploitation
were very important for their quality of life.
  This article provides additional estimates
of psychological and physical abuse experi-
enced by women  in Alaska who are 60 years
of age or older. Psychological abuse includes
expressive aggression by intimate partners
and coercive control by intimate partners.
Physical abuse includes physical violence by


intimate partners. It also includes sexual
violence, by both intimate partners and non-
intimate partners. Estimates are provided
for both psychological and physical abuse.
This article compares the Alaska estimates
to  national estimates. Alaska estimates
come  from the 2010-2015 Alaska Victimiza-
tion Survey (AVS). National estimates come
from the 2010 National Intimate Partner and
Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) (sidebar, p. 2).


>One  in Nine Experienced
  Psychological or Physical Abuse
  The analysis in this article focuses on the
3,049 women   in the NISVS and the 3,483
women   in the AVS who  were 60 years of
age or older. All estimates are weighted to
control for selection, nonresponse, and cov-
erage. Estimates are provided for past-year


Please see Alaska women, page 2

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most