Violence against elderly women a hidden crisis

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.

At an annual meeting of a national council of counselors for women and children in Nagasaki last November, a session on elderly people's problems was included for the first time since the meeting began in 1966.

Counselors, consultants and other officials from 10 prefectures took part.

"Reports from all regions said more and more elderly victims are seeking consultations," said Kazunori Aikawa, who chaired the session. Aikawa is manager of the Children and Women Support Department at the Nagasaki Prefectural Nagasaki Support Center for Children, Women and the Physically Handicapped.

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

According to police, she still lives with her abusive husband because, she says, "I have nowhere else to go."

At a private support group in Kochi Prefecture, one in three women seeking help is 60 or older.

"Elderly women are apt to blame themselves," said the group's representative.

"They silently put up with the abuse, thinking 'It's my fault,' and even when they leave home once, they often return to their husbands. There is no end to cases like that."

Some elderly women are forced to stay because they have no way to pay rent or medical care costs on their own, the representative said.

Yoshiko Iwai, a professor of criminal law at Senshu University's School of Legal Affairs who chairs a Cabinet Office panel on violence against women, agrees.

"It would be hard for women who have put up with spousal violence for so long to seek court protection on their own when they are older and weaker economically and physically," Iwai said.

"Many are unable to ask for help because they worry about their life after that."

She said the nationwide figure, 269, must be "only a fraction" of the actual number of victims and that research is needed to find out the full situation.

An official of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Family Welfare Division says the problem often remains hidden because "many elderly people do not even recognize themselves as victims of domestic violence."

To increase understanding of the problem, the official stressed the importance of education efforts.

Local governments, meanwhile, are not sitting by idly.

Gunma Prefecture in fiscal 2006 renovated a shelter into a barrier-free structure so it can accommodate elderly people, including those using a wheelchair.

Kyoto, Chiba and other prefectures are taking similar measures.

But a Tottori Prefecture official in charge of a women's consultation center says the real challenge is finding places where such women can settle.

"Temporary shelters are basically for helping them to be self-reliant," the official said. "But we cannot find a real solution if there is nowhere for them to settle afterward."

The Asahi survey also found some elderly victims who had sought help at shelters eventually returned home, indicating the limits of administrative 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.

The Asahi survey found that 27 prefectures offered no subsidies to help such private groups.(IHT/Asahi: June 4,2009)