Helping a Friend/Helping Yourself: Intimate Partner Violence & Rural Older Women

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual abuse by a husband, boyfriend or other intimate partner. IPV may include harsh or cruel criticism, threats of abandonment, intentional isolation from family and friends, limits on the use of the phone, and denying medical treatment or medications in addition to physical abuse. IPV affects women of all ages regardless of income, education, residence, or social status. Older women often keep IPV hidden from family and friends at the expense of their health, wellbeing, and quality of life.