Information for the media
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Power Project launch 19/2/18
Today a new Campaign preventing the sexual abuse of older women, by their intimate partners, family members and service providers, will be launched at the National Elder Abuse Conference in Sydney. Project founder Dr Catherine Barrett says:
“I’ve heard hundreds of accounts of sexual abuse of older women – and across all these accounts a common theme is the power of listening. Service providers, friends and family who listen can transform the lives of older women. But people are also telling me that want easy access to information and resources on how to respond when sexual abuse is reported.”
The first stage of the Power Project includes a website and poster campaign to raise awareness of the power of listening.
The Project is being launched at an Interdisciplinary Panel on Sexual Abuse, hosted as part of the National Elder Abuse Conference in Sydney today.
Power Project founder Dr Catherine Barrett is calling on service providers to access the information on the website to understand the power of listening to older women who report sexual abuse.
Barrett is also calling for organisations, services, associations and individuals to become Power Project Champions by pledging to disseminate Campaign posters or undertake actions to prevention sexual abuse.
Barrett has more than 30 years’ experience working with older people – and has been promoting the sexual rights of older people for over 20 years. She was part of a team that developed Australia’s first sexuality policy for residential aged care in 1985 – and recently published a book on the Sexual Rights of Older People for Routledge.
Until 2016 Barrett was employed as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University – where she established Australia’s first Sexual Health and Ageing Program. Barrett was Chief Investigator for Norma’s Project, research documenting older women’s experiences of sexual abuse.
Barrett left her academic position in 2016 to establish the OPAL Institute – a program promoting the sexual rights of older people. The OPAL Institute website had over 23, 000 unique visitors in the past 12 months.
Contact
Dr Catherine Barrett
Phone: 0429 582 237
Email: director@celebrateageing.com
“I’ve heard hundreds of accounts of sexual abuse of older women – and across all these accounts a common theme is the power of listening. Service providers, friends and family who listen can transform the lives of older women. But people are also telling me that want easy access to information and resources on how to respond when sexual abuse is reported.”
The first stage of the Power Project includes a website and poster campaign to raise awareness of the power of listening.
The Project is being launched at an Interdisciplinary Panel on Sexual Abuse, hosted as part of the National Elder Abuse Conference in Sydney today.
Power Project founder Dr Catherine Barrett is calling on service providers to access the information on the website to understand the power of listening to older women who report sexual abuse.
Barrett is also calling for organisations, services, associations and individuals to become Power Project Champions by pledging to disseminate Campaign posters or undertake actions to prevention sexual abuse.
Barrett has more than 30 years’ experience working with older people – and has been promoting the sexual rights of older people for over 20 years. She was part of a team that developed Australia’s first sexuality policy for residential aged care in 1985 – and recently published a book on the Sexual Rights of Older People for Routledge.
Until 2016 Barrett was employed as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University – where she established Australia’s first Sexual Health and Ageing Program. Barrett was Chief Investigator for Norma’s Project, research documenting older women’s experiences of sexual abuse.
Barrett left her academic position in 2016 to establish the OPAL Institute – a program promoting the sexual rights of older people. The OPAL Institute website had over 23, 000 unique visitors in the past 12 months.
Contact
Dr Catherine Barrett
Phone: 0429 582 237
Email: director@celebrateageing.com
(c) 2016 OPAL Institute, part of the Celebrate Ageing Program
