Lifelong Resilience: Taiwanese Elderly Women Coping with Intimate Partner Violence

Background

Resilience is of dynamic nature, but little is known about the changes of resilience intersecting with intimate partner violence (IPV) and aging. Lifelong IPV against women in Taiwan can begin in the teenage years and may persist into older age that can last for up to 40-50 years. Elderly IPV women survivors, compared to young IPV survivors, are more likely to obey Confucian beliefs and traditional gender norms. However, the elderly women’s resilience enables them to ‘bounce back’ to a balance point. This study aims to explore the resilience and coping strategies of older women survivors.

Methods

Using the phenomenological qualitative research design, this study conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with older Taiwanese women (aged 65 and over) who had experienced IPV from the same partner in their entire life and were again abused in older adulthood. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants who received services from the Taiwanese Family Violence Prevention Center. A total of 13 older IPV survivors, age 69 to 74, consented to participate in this study; they experienced lifelong IPV for an average of 46.5 years. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. This study has been funded by the [blinded] and approved by the University IRB.

Results

The results showed that the development of elder Taiwanese IPV women survivors’ resilience is a stage-by-stage process. Six themes of lifelong resilience emerged: 1) family responsibility, 2) children and social support, 3) economic and financial resources, 4) separate spaces, 5) partner’s loyalty, and 6) physical aging. In the context of lifelong IPV, these resilience factors are often intertwined and can be risky or protective.

An important starting point for the development of resilience is when young Taiwanese women experienced IPV, because of Confucian beliefs and gender norms, they accepted their fate. Women were expected to prioritize their family welfare; in turn, they were reluctant to disclose IPV and seek help. In their adulthood, they may have had otherllife changes to mitigate the harm caused by IPV; for instance, they lived separately from the perpetrator or became financially independent. In later life, older women re-invented different coping strategies to deal with IPV; for example, they switched their focus on life, maintained superficial interaction, saved face, or waited for the death of the perpetrators to ensure their safety and that of their children.

Implications

This study contributes to the understanding of the lifelong resilience that older Taiwanese women IPV survivors have developed. Across their lifespans, cultural, social and gender beliefs have deeply shaped their lives and have given them the strengths to develop a resilience in order to survive IPV. The findings of this study show that older IPV women survivors use their engrained resilience to cope with lifelong IPV on their own. Isolated by society, their personal resilient stories provide the context for further practice and policies. Community coordinated responses are needed to take older perpetrators accountable. The resilience of elder IPV survivors should be societal concern and be expanded beyond Taiwan.