Margarita
Margarita Solis was a wonder woman and a powerful educator. Margarita was sexually abused at the age of 95, by the acting manager of the Seniors Rental Service she was living in. Margarita is the first older woman in Australia to publicly share her story of sexual assault as an older woman. This reflects the silencing of older women. Sexual assault of older women is not rare, it is rarely reported - and we need to understand why.
This page includes a short film in which Margarita shares the responses when she reported sexual assault. It also includes the media surrounding her story and her presentation at the National Elder Abuse Conference.
This page includes a short film in which Margarita shares the responses when she reported sexual assault. It also includes the media surrounding her story and her presentation at the National Elder Abuse Conference.
Film
This 20 min film highlights the transformative power of listening. Margarita also wants to tell older women that sexual assault is not their fault, and that there are support services available. The film was launched in 2018 - when Margarita was surrounded by friends and felt safe in a residential aged care service. We are still so very sad to have lost Margarita in 2019.
He probably thought I'd Just keep my mouth shut
On 9th June 2018, Margarita shared her story of sexual abuse with the Weekend Australian - Magazine. Margaret is likely to be the first older woman in Australia who has publicly shared her story of sexual abuse. Margaret's story powerfully teaches us what we need to do to prevent sexual abuse. Thank you for sharing your story Margaret. You can read Margarets story by clicking on the link here or reading the four pages below if you can't access the article. Thank you to Susan Hocking for this important story - and congratulations on your Older People Speak Out Award in the Category of Best Coverage of a Controversial Issue Affecting Older People.
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National Elder Abuse Conference, Queensland
Margarita was invited to present a Plenary presentation to the National Elder Abuse Awareness Conference in Brisbane 2019. Margarita was unable to attend and asked her friend Jill Bolen to present on her behalf. See below images from the presentation, an audio and a film.
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In the media
We are grateful to all the journos who cover this issue, your coverage helps to raise awareness and prevent sexual abuse of older women. Thank you to:
- ABC Radio National (14/4/19).The sexual abuse scandal nobody is talking about. Anne Connolly
- ABC The Drum (11/4/19): here and below
- ABC News (11/4/19). Family launches legal action over Bupa nursing home sex attack (link)
- Searle. Its not your shame. here
- HelloCare. 94-Year-Old Sexual Assault Victim Encourages Others To Speak Out. here
- Starts at 60. Listen to older women’: 96-year-old sexual assault victim’s powerful plea: here
- HelloCare. SheToo Campaign – 96 Year Old Margarita Launches Campaign Focusing On Listening To Older Women: here
Contact us
If you would like to speak to us about Margarita's story, or about the sexual abuse of older women, please contact the Director of the OPAL Institute, Dr Catherine Barrett on 0429 582 237 or email: director@celebrateageing.com
