ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on the existing domestic and sexual violence against older people research and make the links between three fields of inquiry: elder abuse; domestic violence; and sexual violence. Drawing on our own empirical research, it examines the evidence in relation to both victims and perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence and uses a number of case studies to highlight the overlaps and gaps in existing knowledge. The chapter focuses on older women, as the research shows they continue to be at increased risk of experiencing domestic or sexual violence compared to men. Furthermore, one of the major limitations with the existing domestic and sexual violence research is a lack of a unified definition of 'older'. An analysis of sexual violence against older women must therefore take into account the social structural position of older women in society and consider a range of factors, including age and gender, when exploring sexual violence against older people.
