Violence against elderly women a hidden crisis
BY SAYAKA HAKUTA
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2009/6/4
After enduring vicious beatings by her husband for more than 30 years, a woman in her late 60s in Tottori Prefecture finally left him last year, when she sought shelter at a welfare facility for the elderly.
The abuse had begun soon after they married, with her husband shouting at her and hitting her. One time, he kicked her so hard he broke her ribs. After he retired, his violent outbursts escalated, and he began forbidding her to contact her friends.
But she endured the pain. "I thought I had to put up with it because it was a family matter," she said.
Finally one night, after he fell asleep, she called Mimoza-no-kai, a private group in the prefecture that helps women and children facing domestic violence.
"It is perfectly all right for you to flee," the phone counselor told her.
So she did. After living in the facility for three months, she was finally able to sleep without medication. After six months, she felt relaxed enough to take up needlework, a hobby she had given up long before.
Domestic violence victims often find it hard to ask for help--especially older women, who often believe that "women must be patient," say people working to help them.
Experts suspect that Japan has many "hidden" cases of domestic violence, as problems lurk deep inside seemingly normal relationships.
In fiscal 2007, of 5,121 victims of domestic violence placed under temporary protection nationwide, 269 were 60 or older, an Asahi Shimbun survey found. The newspaper gathered the figures from women's consultation centers run by each of the nation's 47 prefectures.
The total victims figure is from 46 prefectures, while the age figure was from the 45 prefectures that list data by age. In Tokushima Prefecture, 10 out of 44 victims, or more than 20 percent, were 60 or older.
Abuse of the aged is being recognized more clearly in Japan.
The Law on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims, enacted in 2001, allows victims to seek a court protection order that bans their violent spouses from approaching or contacting them.
Violators are liable to receive a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to 1 million yen.
Despite the provisions, however, officials and supporters agree that elderly people still hesitate to seek help or leave home.
Typical is the case of a woman in her late 70s in Tottori Prefecture, who, no longer able to endure her husband's violence, called police for help.
The husband, also in his late 70s, told the police officer who rushed to their home that he was angry because she refused to have sex.
The husband was persuaded not to resort to violence and agreed; but the woman called police again three months later.
Nowhere else to go.
support.
Private groups like Mimoza are trying to fill the void by helping elderly people seek court protection or find new places to live.
But funding difficulties are always a problem.
Mimoza, commissioned by the prefecture to provide help, receives subsidies and other fees totaling 10 million yen a year. However, after paying rent on the shelter facilities and for daily necessities for the women under its care, it still operates in the red.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, two private shelters closed last year because of financial difficulties.
Abridged
SOURCE: Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo,Japan
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
