A Scoping Review of Sexual Violence Events Perpetrated Against Older People

Madeline Lee Ms; Nadine McKillop; Emily Moir

doi:10.1177/15248380241265387

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A Scoping Review of Sexual Violence Events Perpetrated Against Older People

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

A Scoping Review of Sexual Violence Events Perpetrated Against Older People

Madeline Lee Ms, Nadine McKillop and Emily Moir

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Vol.25(5), pp.3951-3966

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241265387

PMCID: PMC11545133

PMID: 39082684

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Abstract

Causes and prevention of crime

Crime prevention

older people

criminal events

environmental criminology

scoping review

sexual violence and abuse

Although 9 million older adults are estimated to be victims of sexual violence and abuse (SVA) globally each year, this population is largely overlooked in criminological research. Given the known impacts of SVA, particularly for older victims, enhanced understanding of incident characteristics, and how these events unfold, is crucial to improving prevention and response. Guided by environmental criminology perspectives, a scoping review was conducted to assess the extent to which SVA events against older people have been empirically examined to gain an understanding of the immediate circumstances in which incidents occur and how this can inform early intervention and prevention. Eight databases were searched, with records included if they reported characteristics of SVA events occurring in older adulthood, were original, peer-reviewed, empirical research, and published in English. After screening 1,278 records, 33 studies were included for review. Findings demonstrate that considerable attention has been given to understanding who is involved in SVA events and what typically occurs, however, there is a dearth of information regarding when and how these crimes are perpetrated, and the situational factors influencing offending. Resultingly, prevention recommendations largely focus on actors (e.g., victims, perpetrators, witnesses), rather than the environment in which abuse occurs, emphasizing significant gaps in understanding and response to this growing issue.

Details

Title: A Scoping Review of Sexual Violence Events Perpetrated Against Older People
Authors: Madeline Lee Ms (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Nadine McKillop (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Emily Moir (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Publication details: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Vol.25(5), pp.3951-3966
Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1177/15248380241265387
ISSN: 1552-8324
PMID: 39082684; PMC11545133
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Grant note: This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Organisation Unit: Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Law and Society; Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991049697902621
Output Type: Journal article

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