And as the House considers reauthorization, the Republican leadership is threatening to take further anti-senior actions by dismantling some of these vital services. Congress also must reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act this year. When VAWA was enacted in 1994, it went a long way toward treating domestic violence as a serious national problem. Unfortunately, its 5-year authorization is about to run out. While we must fight hard to ensure VAWA is maintained, we must also acknowledge that not even the Violence Against Women Act specifically addresses the concerns of older women.
Seniors are, sadly enough, high targets of violence.
Further, of the more than one million people aged 65 and over who are victims of abuse each year, at least two-thirds are women. And older women report more serious injuries than male victims of elder abuse. Older Americans are victimized by many kinds of abuse. Sometimes, they are swindled out of their life savings. And many older people are abused by adult children or care givers.