Psychological impacts of gender violence throughout life: a literature review on elderly women who carry traumas from their youth

Abstract

Gender-based violence is a serious social and public health problem, producing impacts that extend throughout the life of women and intensify in old age. Experiences of violence, often initiated in childhood or youth, leave lasting psychological marks that affect the mental health, quality of life and psychosocial functioning of elderly women. Given this scenario, this study aimed to investigate the psychological impacts of gender violence throughout the life cycle, focusing on older women who experienced situations of violence in youth. This is a qualitative bibliographic review, conducted in the databases Virtual Health Library (VHL), SciELO and CAPES Journal Portal, including articles published in Portuguese between 2015 and 2026, totaling 16 selected studies. The results show that gender violence takes different expressions, such as physical, psychological, sexual, obstetric, moral and economic violence, often combined throughout life. The main psychological repercussions identified include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, social isolation and suicidal ideation, especially in old age. Coping strategies involve interventions in psychological approaches, humanized reception in health services, networking and the use of telemedicine. Thus, it is understood that gender violence produces progressive and lasting effects on women’s mental health, requiring continuous care strategies, interdisciplinary and sensitive to the specificities of female aging.