The majority (n=21) of sexual violence practitioners (and all of the age-related practitioners) felt older people would be less likely than younger victims to report sexual violence to the police. Two practitioners said they felt older people would be more likely, based on their own experiences with older women, however they were cautious about making this generalisation as they had only limited experience with this age group:
‘In some ways I think more likely. I think there is more of a belief in the body but that is perhaps to do with the patriarchal society.’ (Practitioner L)
One practitioner felt there was no difference between older and younger survivors:
‘Neither more nor less than younger women. Same barriers as younger women – shame, fear, not wanting to go through court process, not wanting people to know, lack of proof.’
In general, a number of reasons why older people would be less likely report were cited. The stigma and shame of having been raped in old age, a lack of trust in the police, and a lack of awareness of their rights were the main reasons practitioners felt older people would be less likely to report. As one practitioner explained, older women may be:
‘Less likely to report, which goes down to fact rape in marriage only crime since 1990s and grown up in era where women were second class citizens and didn’t have the same rights. It is harder to admit it has happened and when you are older it is a very intrusive process to go through.’ (Practitioner D)
Overall practitioners estimated around half of the older survivors they had supported had reported to the police. The main reasons why people had reported was because they were scared, they wanted justice and/or they wanted to protect other women from being raped. However, there were a number of reasons why women did not report.
Practitioners felt there were a number of barriers preventing older women reporting to the police, in addition to those faced by all victims, including embarrassment, shame, and fear of not being believed. Practitioners felt that the stigma of being raped in old age was a key reason older women did not report to the police. This is linked to the dominant rape stereotypes which depict rape to be based on sexual gratification and therefore young, attractive women are the most likely to be raped. Practitioners felt this made it difficult for women to report to the police (or disclose to anyone else). This was also linked to generational norms and values which, for many older women, may mean sex was not something openly spoken about and was a taboo subject. Likewise, sexual violence and
abuse were silenced subjects and were not generally discussed, which may make it difficult for women to talk about, particularly to official authorities:
‘I think that it is the massive thing about being believed, being unable to say those words because they have never spoken openly about sex, about the process not understanding the process of how to report and who to. And fear of the police and what they do/mean.’ (Practitioner K)
Similarly, practitioners felt that older women may be generally reluctant to report to the police because they may fear the police, particularly as they grew up in generations where the police were seen as authoritative:
‘One of them did report to the police, again didn’t work with her for long. It was quite a violent rape – vaginal and anal. I think she reported because she had to go to the doctors because of a problem after – her GP told her she must report.’ (Practitioner V)
One practitioner described a number of barriers to pursuing cases through the CJS for older survivors and the experience of one survivor:
‘Physical frailty, and less resilient. More scared that not going to be believed and more scared about the impact of describing what happened to them, find it hard to use the words, worried about impact on me listening to them. Not processing information so readily so in terms of court support I have done, trying to prepare them for trial, I was very aware that whilst they looked like they had complete comprehension they were actually struggling to process the
information. I was very concerned about her taking the stand in court. She was on there for 1.5 hours. She was offered break, water etc., but not offered any other concession. She requested I went into the stand with her, common process in Crown but not in Magistrates and they wouldn’t allow that. They should have taken far more breaks. She wasn’t processing what she was being asked. He got a 3-month community order and unlimited restraining order. Psychiatrist didn’t turn up at trial and because psychiatrist didn’t turn up they reduced the order to 5 years. But we were unable to tell her any of this because of her mental health.’ (Practitioner A)
However, one practitioner felt older survivors may be more likely to get a positive conviction because juries may find them more believable:
‘Older women might do better in front of a jury than younger, we like to see a victim, she is frail, old, vulnerable etc. Whereas with younger women they tend to hold them responsible.’ (Practitioner B)
5.7.1 Overcoming these challenges
All of the practitioners felt that the police could do a number of things to encourage older women to report rape. The biggest thing was raising awareness. Practitioners said that the police campaigns tend to focus narrowly on specific groups, usually young people and alcohol, and the night-time economy. Practitioners felt this could re-enforce the rape myths and stereotypes and further marginalise older women. It was suggested by several practitioners that police campaigns should be
more diverse and think about a range of groups and that specific campaigns around older people should be considered:
‘Campaigns like we mentioned before. Their campaigns are showing people out drinking. I think doing more around campaigning and showing older people to demonstrate this happens to anyone regardless of age or gender. I think support services and our org need to, perhaps a group approach, the police are showing this happens to anyone of any age and even if you don’t want to report to them you can go to SARC or counselling. A campaign showing everybody that police acknowledge anyone could be a victim but also saying if you don’t want to go to police these are the agencies. Showing we are stronger when we are working together.’ (Practitioner O)
Similarly, another practitioner felt there was a need to broaden the scope and focus of campaigns:
‘I think there could be, the police have made huge leaps forward in the way they tackle rape and sexual but it is all focused on young people and night-time economy and now moved from drink to child sexual exploitation. They don't look outside that demographic at all. So an awareness it happens to older people. When you look at advertising, ours are the same, they target young people.’ (Practitioner S)
All practitioners felt it was important that the police worked with sexual violence organisations and older peoples’ services in designing any campaigns and raising awareness to avoid perpetuating ageist or sexist stereotypes and to ensure campaigns were appropriate for an older audience.
Moreover, all practitioners felt there is a multi-agency responsibility and the police should work with safeguarding boards and public health to develop strategies and communication:
‘I think there is a regional safeguarding board, but focus generally around younger people and police take that lead. So communication strategy and safeguarding board should also include older people which could feed into other groups, actions for elderly etc. All agencies, not only the police.’ (Practitioner E)
Another area that practitioners felt the police could help encourage older women to come forward was to have female officers available for older women reporting rape. Practitioners felt that older women may be reluctant to disclose sexual violence, particularly where it has occurred in the context of a relationship and the initial call has been for domestic violence. Practitioners felt that, in these situations, older people may only disclose the physical abuse if the police officer was male, however they may be more likely to disclose the sexual violence if a female officer attended.