AGE joins new EU project addressing violence against older women

Improving coordination to address violence against older women is the objective of the new EU-funded project MARVOW 2.0 recently kicked off in Vienna, Austria. The event was the opportunity to meet the partners involved in the project and discuss the activities planned for the next 3 years.

Violence against older women is invisible

Very few data exist on violence against older women. According to the Fundamental Rights Agency 2014 Survey on violence against women, 5% of the EU women over 50 years old reported physical and/or sexual violence in the year that preceded the survey interview. This percentage is expected to increase, given that the population in Europe is ageing and that the number of older persons is growing. As we mentioned in our contribution (2021) to the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, specific research on violence against older women is scarce and reflects the general lack of awareness, research, and investigation into the larger phenomenon of elder abuse, for which no EU-wide study exists to date.

The Coordinated Multi-Agency response to Violence Against Older Women (MARVOW 2.0) project seeks to address this lack of data, risk assessment and legal framework that currently exist.

Overview of the project

The general objective of the MARVOW 2.0 project will be to improve services for victims of gender-based violence through the advancement of multi-agency work. It will tackle Article 51 on risk assessment and risk management of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The objective of the project is also in line with the EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights (2020-2025) and with the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025.

AGE is involved in all work packages, but its main role will be to support the partners in the drafting of the EU policy recommendations and the organisation of the final event that will take place in Brussels in 2026.

The project will focus on:

• Victims/survivors of gender-based violence and their families
• Agencies involved in victim protection such as social services, healthcare, and criminal justice)
• EU policymakers and EU institutions
• National policymakers and national institutions

By combating gender-based violence against women, the MARVOW 2.0 recognises the structural barriers that older women face when confronted to violence. It further contributes to structural change and gender mainstreaming more broadly.

Partners

• Verein Autonome Osterreichische Frauenhauser, Austria (coordinator of the project)
• Union Of Women Associations of Heraklion (UWAH), Greece
• European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, Germany
• AGE Platform Europe, Belgium
• Associació CONEXUS Atenció, Formació i Investigació Psicosocials (CONEXUS), Spain
• Association NAIA, Bulgaria
• Anci Associazone Regionale Comuni Italiani Lazio (ANCI LAZIO), Italy
• Psytel, France
• Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), Greece
• Women Against Violence Europe, Austria

Useful links

• Website of the MARVOW project
• Follow MARVOW on Facebook
• MARVOW Project Reports.
• Documentary ‘Invisible violence against older women’, by Verein Autonome Osterreichische Frauenhauser organisation.

For more information, please contact Apolline Parel at apolline.parel@age-platform.eu.