MARVOW.eu title
17th March 2022 |

Final conference: “At the crossroads between violence against women and elder abuse – solutions to protect older women survivors through multiagency cooperation”

The final dissemination conference of the MARVOW Conference took place online on March 1st from 9 am to 1 pm CET. The partners invited stakeholders and members of groups from their countries to the event, including policymakers, healthcare professionals, hospital administrators, representatives of the judiciary and the police, etc. In total, 97 participants joined the conference.

The conference was divided into two welcoming speeches, a keynote speech, and two panels. The moderator of the conference was Elena Floriani, from the WAVE Network. The executive directors of AÖF and WAVE, Maria Rösslhumer and Stephanie Futter-Orel respectively, open the conference and welcomed the participants. A minute of silence was observed for the conflict in Ukraine. The keynote speaker of the conference, Marcella Pirrone, focused her presentation on the legal aspects of supporting older survivors of violence, based on her extensive experience as a lawyer and women’s rights activist. Particular attention was paid to the Istanbul Convention and how it should be implemented to improve multiagency cooperation.

The first panel of the conference was moderated by Alessandra Pauncz, Executive Director of WWP EN, and the panelist were Cristina Fabre Rossel (EIGE), Birgitt Haller (IKF) and Bridget Penhale (AGE Platform). The panelist shed light on different aspects of violence against older women. Bridget Penhale presented the intersection between elder abuse and violence against women, and how this intersection is often neglected. Birgitt Haller presented the results from a study conducted by the Institute of Conflict Research regarding the experiences of older women survivors of violence, highlighting why it is difficult to report and to leave violent relationships. Cristina Fabre Rossel focused on the topic of femicide of older women and the results of EIGE’s data collection in Europe.

The second panel was moderated by Lydia Sandrock (WWP EN) and hosted the project partners of MARVOW: Maria Rösslhumer (AÖF), Sandra Jovanovic (WWP EN), Pille Tsopp-Pagan (WSIC) and Sophia Balamoutsou (UWAH). The project partners had the chance to present the activities done at the national level, including the challenges and the promising practices. WWP also included the point of view of perpetrator work, and how this should be included in multiagency cooperation.

After each panel, the participants had the possibility of asking questions, and interesting discussions followed the presentations.