Published on: 2026-10-13
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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October 8, 2026 Women
Elderly women around the world face violence, exploitation, and neglect, yet their interests are generally not taken into account when developing laws and adopting policies aimed at protecting women and ensuring the rights of older persons.
This was stated on Thursday by Rima Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. In her report presented to the UN General Assembly, Alsalem called on states to take urgent measures.
“A woman should not lose the right to live free from violence simply because she has grown older,” emphasized Alsalem. “Ageism and sexism often intertwine, making violence against older women invisible [to others]. It is tolerated and perceived as an inevitable part of aging.”
It is estimated that in 2025 there will be 664 million women aged 60 and over worldwide, and by 2050 their number could reach 1.13 billion. Violence against older women is considered in the report as a specific form of violence arising at the intersection of gender discrimination, ageism, and inequality.
“Elderly women are bearers of knowledge and active members of society. Their age should not be used to diminish their dignity, autonomy, or protection,” said the expert.
The report mentions various forms of violence: physical, psychological, sexual, and economic, as well as coercive control, neglect, abandonment, and technology-facilitated abuse. The author notes that elderly women sometimes have their pensions and property taken away, face digital isolation, denial of medical care or access to assistive devices, and encounter obstacles in seeking protection and justice. Violence can occur at home, in communities, nursing homes, and prisons.
Al Salem notes that widows, migrant women and stateless women, rural women, women with disabilities, women in nursing homes, as well as those affected by conflicts and humanitarian crises are particularly vulnerable.
The Special Rapporteur called on states to recognize and address violence against older women at the level of legislation, national strategies, and violence prevention programs, to collect age- and gender-disaggregated data, to strengthen accessible protection mechanisms, and to provide training for law enforcement and judicial staff, as well as medical and social services personnel.
She also called for strengthening social protection, reinforcing pension systems, improving medical care and palliative care, as well as measures to prevent economic exploitation and isolation.
Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine either situations in specific countries or thematic issues worldwide. They are part of the Council’s special procedures. Special procedure experts are not UN staff members and are independent of any government or organization. They work in a personal capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.
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