Sexuality in Older Spanish Women: Voices and Reflections

"A little love is enough for me to live my life…": Precarity and resilience among older sex workers in India

Most research on sex workers globally has focused on cis women sex workers vulnerabilities including violence, risk for HIV/AIDS, and stigma. Despite the plethora of studies on the topic, older sex workers are significantly underrepresented in research. We used a phenomenological approach to highlight street and home-based sex workers' experiences. Using a purposive sampling strategy, 39 cis women sex workers were recruited from Karnataka, India and data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Findings revealed a range of changes in sex workers' lives as they aged, financial instability, lack of alternate livelihood options, and limited access to governmental benefits and social security. Participant narratives challenged the notion of anticipated traditional familial support especially from their grown children. Findings were replete with instances of sex workers' personal agency to confront personal and professional challenges. Peer networks formed the biggest forms of support as were sex workers' connections with local community-based groups. There is an urgent need for helping professionals to recognize the ongoing marginalization faced by older sex workers. It is critical to address concerns broadly along with inequities in terms of access and power as experienced by older sex workers. Finally, examining the differential impact of ageism, structural barriers including neglect by the State, violence, and stigma that follow sex workers is vital.

Changes and Forms of Sexual Behaviour in old age: A Qualitative Study of Older People in Southeastern Nigeria

The misconceptions that old age is an asexual phase of human life has been challenged by increasing empirical evidence which shows that sexual activity persists in old age albeit in different forms and frequency. This study examined how a group of older people in southeastern Nigeria express their sexual behaviour. The semi-structured individual interviews with 14 older people (9 male, 5 female) aged 60?89 years were conducted using an exploratory qualitative approach. The data generated were analysed thematically, and two themes were conceptualised including diverse sexual behaviour and mutual understanding. These themes supported a pattern among the participants where there is a drop in the frequency of physical sexual behaviour but their sexual interests were described to be more stable. However, the sexual interest is channelled into more intimate sexual behaviour. Thus, sexual behaviours in later life in this study were not declining but showed diversity and modifications; most have adjusted to incorporate more emotional bonding and caring. More so, what forms of sexual behaviour constitute for these older partners are often linked to the presence of dynamic interplay of influencing factors ingrained on the level of the older partners mutuality in understanding and responding to theencroaching age-related changes in their sexual behaviour. Remarkably, these factors could be controlled, which signposts a potential premise and point of policy and practical intervention to promote healthy sexual behaviour in later life.

Women's sexual satisfaction in the context of midlife relationships: examining an ecological model

This study examined an ecological model of sexual satisfaction in midlife women. Participants were 1,411 midlife women who participated in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. Regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis that an ecological model - including the macrosystem level variable of religiosity, the exosystem level variables of SES, social support, and parenthood, the mesosystem level variables of affectual solidarity, relationship length, and sexual functioning, and the microsystem level variables of age, negative affect, and physical health - would together predict sexual satisfaction. Partial support for an ecological understanding of sexual satisfaction was found.

Factors Conditioning Sexual Behavior in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

The sexual behavior of older adults, especially women, has undergone changes in recent years, though there are still certain stereotypes today related to pathophysiology, beliefs, culture and tradition that negatively affect older adults’ sexual activity. The aim of our review is to present the main qualitative studies analyzing how physiological and psychosocial factors affect sexual behavior in older adults. A systematic review of these qualitative studies was carried out. All stages of this review were carried out peer-to-peer in order to guarantee minimized bias. A bibliographical search was completed between February and April 2019, in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed Medline, PsycINFO ProQuest and CINAHL. To analyze the findings of the selected qualitative studies, a “Thematic Synthesis Analysis” was performed, using Eppi-Reviewer 4 software (UCL Institute of Education, University of London, UK). The quality of the studies was assessed with a CASP-Qualitative-Checklist. A total of 16,608 references were screened and 18 qualitative studies were included in this review. The studies involved 2603 participants across seven countries, most being women (approximately 80%). We identified a wide variety of physiological and psychological factors that can influence the sexual behavior of older adults, such as the presence of pathologies (erectile dysfunction and menopause), the strength of spiritual beliefs, and patriarchal roles upheld by upbringings conveying that women’s role is to provide men with sexual pleasure. Biological age in relation to stereotypical models of sexual behavior, emphasized as a risk factor in the contraction of sexual diseases, seems to play a relevant role as a factor limiting sexual behavior in older adults.

Vivências e perceções de sexualidade de portuguesas com mais de 65 anos

Resumo: Este estudo objetiva compreender as vivências e perceções sexuais de mulheres portuguesas com mais de 65 anos. Foram realizadas entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas a 13 mulheres (sete casadas e seis viúvas), com idades compreendidas entre os 66 e os 85 anos, e a informação obtida foi analisada através do método da análise temática. Desta análise foram construídos 5 (cinco) temas - Perceções sobre papéis de género, Sexo “obrigação”, Sexualidade e envelhecimento, Medos do casamento e da sexualidade e Educação sexual. Para as participantes deste estudo, encarar as alterações provocadas pelo envelhecimento como fim da obrigação sexual ou como uma oportunidade de readaptação sexual está inteiramente relacionado com a relação conjugal em si e com as ideologias que os membros do casal têm.