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Sepali Guruge and Parvathy Kanthasamy

Older Women’s Perceptions Of And Responses To Abuse And Neglect In The Post-Migration Context

They are a minority within a minority and their very invisibility heightens their vulnerability to exploitation.  Older immigrant women are not a group one would normally think of being victims of abuse or neglect, and not much Canadian research exists on these women’s experiences in a post-migration context.  But new research, by Drs Sepali Guruge and Parvathy Kanthasamy on the experiences of older Tamil women, provides critical insight into these women’s experiences of – and their responses to – abuse and neglect.  The authors examine how factors at the individual, community and societal levels have shaped these women’s experiences. Key opportunities for prevention and intervention both within and across new communities are discussed.

Principal Organizations: Ryerson University

Investigators: Dr. Sepali Guruge, Dr. Parvathy Kanthasamy

Participants: Older Tamil immigrant women

Research Methods: Interviews and focus groups

Older Women’s Perception Of And Responses To Abuse And Neglect In The Post-Migration Context

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.