LYNN — Greater Lynn Senior Services is putting the focus on elder abuse, an often overlooked form of domestic violence that impacts both men and women.
About 60 people each year, aged 50 and older, receive support from the Women’s and Family Abuse Program, which was started by GLSS 23 years ago and is now run in conjunction with Northeast Legal Aid.
At its inception, the program, the only one of its kind in Massachusetts and just one of a few across the country, was specifically designed to focus on older women who have been victims of intimate partner violence, but was expanded to family abuse in 2014.
Elder domestic abuse can take several different forms, said Katie Galenius, the program’s director, explaining that it not only involves physical, verbal or sexual abuse on an intimate partner, but can present itself in the form of abuse committed by adult children or grandchildren.
“October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” said Galenius. “We’d certainly like to remind people in the community of the services. Because of COVID, it’s so difficult to get to people. We want people to know we’re here. We’re available. We want to help if we can even if it’s by phone.”
Like other forms of domestic violence, there is a lot of concern among advocates that there are currently victims of elder abuse who are unable to distance from their partners during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Margaret Gilligan, a GLSS spokesperson, who hopes that highlighting the long-running program for Domestic Violence Awareness Month will encourage those victims to seek help.
“I have talked to other people across the country in domestic violence programs (and they’re) saying the same thing, that people are kind of suffering behind closed doors that we want to reach,” said Galenius. “It’s what we’re not able to see that concerns me because people are living with batterers (and) can’t get out of the house.”
That abuse has been exacerbated during the pandemic with increased tension in the home from people losing their jobs and being stuck inside due to COVID-19 restrictions. There have also been instances of children moving back into the home and mistreating their parents or grandparents, Galenius said.
“A lot of times people don’t want to talk about their kids or grandkids treating them badly, stealing money or being emotionally or physically abusive toward them,” she said. “They often will blame themselves if it’s an adult child or grandchild.”
GLSS tries to break through that barrier with individual counseling and support groups, which aim to provide a safe place for people to talk about what is happening to them in a non-judgmental setting, Galenius said.
Support groups can be particularly helpful as they bring together people who are experiencing the same sorts of problems, which can make it easier for victims to open up, receive support from their peers, and learn to stand up for themselves, she said.
Other services offered through the program include those that are aimed at helping victims maintain their independence, such as offering help around the house, providing meals and transportation, and helping to secure safe and affordable housing for elders.
GLSS also investigates and intervenes in instances of elder abuse and neglect, which includes regular visits to local nursing homes to protect patients’ rights, according to a flyer for the program.
The Women’s and Family Abuse Program serves as a supplement to the state’s Elder Protective Services Program, which serves people 60 and older. Once Elder Services closes their cases, they will often refer clients to the GLSS program, Galenius said.
GLSS, which provides services for people across the North Shore, also works with other domestic violence agencies, such as Salem-based Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC), the YWCA North Shore Rape Crisis Center in Lynn, and the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center in Amesbury.
“We do work with those agencies and let them know we’re available to help older adults that they may not have expertise in dealing with,” said Galenius. “That’s where we come in.”
Elder abuse is an often overlooked form of domestic violence, Galenius said, noting that it can be difficult for people to understand why someone may stay in an abusive marriage for 50-plus years.
It can be hard to leave those types of relationships, she said, as victims may not think they have any other options. Often, they have been advised to turn the other way or take a walk when their partner becomes abusive, she said.
For example, Galenius recalls when one of her clients finally told her doctor that her husband was abusive at home. Unfortunately, the couple shared the same doctor, who responded by asking the woman what she had done to upset her husband, which shut her down for another 20 years.
“She never told anyone again until we met and that’s really sad,” said Galenius. “Those are the (reasons) that we want people to know that we are here. We want people to know that they are not alone, even though it may feel like that during COVID. They are not alone. We are here for them.”
