[Sexual victimization in old age]

A study on the underresearched topic of elderly sexual victimization combined multiple data sources: German police crime statistics, 122 public prosecutor files on sexual victimization of people above age 60, survey data from 76 institutions assisting victims of sexual violence/domestic violence, in-depth interviews with 22 practitioners who had worked with sexually victimized elderly. The study shows that few cases of sexual victimization in old age are known to law enforcement agencies or victim services. Offences dealt with by the criminal justice system differ significantly from those known to battered women's shelters and victim services. The majority of incidents prosecuted by the criminal justice system are hands-off offences; hands-on offences are typically single incidents committed by strangers or loose acquaintances of the victim. Battered women's shelters and institutions of victim assistance are confronted with severe forms of sexual violence in intimate relationships, the prototypical case being an older woman who is repeatedly victimized by her husband over a considerable period of time and within a relationship characterized by a comprehensive system of violence, humiliation, and control (corresponding to Johnson's concept of intimate terrorism). The study demonstrates how small numbers of recorded cases of sexual violence in old age may reflect age-specific detection rates. It provides evidence on older victims' help-seeking behavior and on ways to improve victim services.