End violence against older women & girls - Special Rapporteur Press Conference | United Nations

Produced by United Nations

Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem called for end to violence against older women, warns age must never diminish protection of women’s rights Alsalem addressed the press on her report about main forms and manifestations of violence experienced by older women and their intersection with other grounds She said that older women around the world face violence, exploitation and neglect, yet remain largely invisible in laws, policies, data and services designed to protect women from violence and older persons’ rights. She called for urgent action by States to ensure that women’s rights to live free from violence does not diminish with age, in her latest report to the UN General Assembly. An estimated 664 million women were aged 60 or older in 2025, a number projected to reach 1.13 billion by 2050. Alsalem’s report examines violence against older women as a distinct and intersectional forms of violence arising from the interaction of sex-based discrimination, ageism and inequalities accumulated throughout women’s lives. The report identifies physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence, as well as coercive control, neglect, abandonment and technology-facilitated violence. It outlines that older women may face exploitation of pensions and property, digital exclusion, denial of healthcare or assistive devices and barriers to reporting and justice, and notes that violence can occur in homes, communities, care institutions, prisons and crisis and conflict settings. The report emphasizes that older women may be excluded from services and data, while sexual violence against them remains under-recognized. Alsalem found that widows, migrant and stateless women, rural women, women with disabilities, women in institutional care and women affected by conflict and humanitarian crises are particularly at risk. The Special Rapporteur highlighted decisions concerning medical treatment and the end of life. Alsalem urged States to explicitly recognize and address violence against older women in laws, national strategies and violence prevention and response programmes, collect age- and sex-disaggregated data, strengthen accessible reporting, protection, justice and redress and ensure training for law enforcement, judicial, health and social service professionals. She called for stronger social protection, pensions, housing, healthcare, palliative and care services and measures to prevent economic exploitation and isolation. Special Rapporteurs and other human rights experts appointed under the special procedures mandate of the Human Rights Council are not UN staff and are independent of any government or organization. They receive no salary for their work.


For more information or to watch video on YouTube, click here.