The Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois has been providing services to victims of domestic violence for more than 33 years. VPC provides free, comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence in St. Clair, Monroe and Randolph counties in Illinois. These services include a 24-hour crisis hotline, an emergency shelter that provides services to women and their dependent children, individual and group counseling, art therapy, court and police advocacy services, and prevention and education in community. During fiscal year 2012, VPC provided to services to 1,762 victims of domestic violence including safe shelter to 258 women and children, answered 9,000 hotline calls, assisted clients with filing 1,000 orders of protection, and provided education to 46,078 individuals in the community.
Darlene Jones, the VPC executive director, recently announced the grant VPC was awarded from the Daughters of Charity Foundation of St. Louis to provide services to seniors who are victims of domestic violence. VPC has noted an increase in numbers of this specific population.
During the previous fiscal year, VPC provided services to 65 people older than 60. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the National Center on Elder Abuse, this number is estimated to continue to rise as the Baby Boomer generation ages.
Many older adults experience violence at the hands of their intimate partners. There are very few services for older victims of domestic violence. Most agencies cater to women of child-bearing age and their children.
Domestic violence is severely underreported, thus making it impossible to know the exact number of people affected by domestic violence. The FBI estimates that nationally, 4,800 women experience some form of physical violence from their intimate partner every day.
Elderly spousal abuse closely mimics domestic violence in younger relationships. Domestic violence advocates and scholars refer to a "cycle of abuse." Abuse occurs in three primary phases including tension building, abusive acts, and honeymoon or the apologetic phases. For older couples, the victims could have possibly been isolated for years. When she finally does try to seek help, she is in a different place in her life than a typical client of VPC. The typical client of VPC is between the ages of 20 and 39.
According to a study conducted by the Community Care Organization of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, "21 battered older women in relatively good health participated in in-depth interviews about the violence they had experienced. Most of the women had been abused by their partners for the entire length of their relationship. These women were isolated and the majority of them did not want to discuss the abuse with anyone, and very few sought help. Additionally, the study indicated that older adults are often vulnerable due to their social status and are often stereotyped and discriminated against, which leads to isolationism on their part. Often when older women seek help, service providers respond in an ageist manner, which is a system of false beliefs about older adults."
Unfortunately, if an agency is not equipped with the knowledge and resources necessary to help older victims of domestic violence, victims may be turned off by the agency and continue to live in their current situation and not receive the help they need. With the grant money awarded by the Daughters of Charity of St. Louis, the Violence Prevention Center can continue to specialize on the victims of elderly spousal abuse and issues that are unique to their age group by partnering with local agencies that specialize in working with older persons. VPC will provide services for immediate crisis care such as an emergency shelter, crisis counseling, individual and group counseling, economic empowerment, legal and police advocacy, and referrals for other services that are needed by the victim. VPC will partner with Intergovernmental Grants and Programs and Services for Older Persons. These programs will assist older clients in securing safe and affordable housing, preparation to re-enter the workforce, and assistance in applying for benefits.
For more information regarding the services that are available at the Violence Prevention Center, please feel free to contact me at 618-236-2531 ext. 130, or via email at patricia.vecchio@vpcswi.org.
Pat Mayberry Vecchio is the director of development for the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois.
Pat Mayberry Vecchio is the director of development for the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois.
