Despite high country-level gender equality, intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is common in Sweden. In discussion about this apparent paradox, the complexity of gender in/equality has been highlighted. Drawing on the domains considered in the EIGE gender equality index (work, money, knowledge, time, power, and health), and based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 23 women exposed to IPVAW, this study investigates experiences of different aspects of gender in/equality in violent partnerships. The violence was described as having influenced and involved all these domains of life. We conclude that gendered power dynamics remain central to IPVAW in Sweden.

Even in highly gender-equal societies such as Sweden, men’s violence against women persists at strikingly high levels, revealing the resilience of patriarchal norms within intimacy itself. However, heterosexual love – while often reproducing women’s disproportionate responsibility for care and emotional labor – also contains the potential to unsettle gender hierarchies. 

In this presentation, we draw on a mixed-methods study of involuntary celibacy and singlehood in Sweden to examine heterosexual love as both a site of women’s subordination and a potential locus of transformation of gender relations. Our research combines interviews, survey data, and analyses of online incel forums to explore how different forms of intimacy relate to gendered attitudes and practices. 

Empirically, the findings indicate that men’s isolation from intimacy correlates with anti-feminist attitudes and the acceptance of partner violence, whereas men engaged in heterosexual relationships tend to express stronger support for gender equality. These patterns suggest that love, far from being a merely private or apolitical domain, plays a crucial role in the reproduction and contestation of gendered power. 

We argue that when grounded in mutuality and equality, romantic love can function as a counter-force to patriarchal domination – fostering empathy, shared responsibility, and ethical interdependence. Reimagined as a practice of equality, intimacy thus holds emancipatory potential: it challenges entrenched gender hierarchies and expands the sociological understanding of how personal relationships both shape and are shaped by broader structures of inequality.

Partner violence is a widespread social problem of concern across professional and disciplinary boundaries. Although older persons may be particularly vulnerable to this type of violence, knowledge is limited, as research on partner violence rarely focuses on older populations and studies on elder abuse seldom look specifically at partner violence. In addition, help-seeking rates after exposure to violence are low within this group. In Sweden, where the current research project is conducted, research indicates that violence against older persons is relatively common (e.g. Lindert et al., 2013). This is while elderly care has decreased in recent decades, in a process characterized by rationalisation, marketisation and privatisation (e.g. Hoppania et al., 2024). As a larger share of the population lives at home during older age, those next of kin face stronger pressures to meet their care needs. Care burdens – such as stress and dependency within caregiving relationships – may in turn increase the risk of partner violence, as well as escalate ongoing violence. 

This interdisciplinary project examines exposure to partner violence and help-seeking after such violence, among older women and men in Sweden. Particular attention is given to what hinders and facilitates help-seeking in this group. The project thereby aims to contribute knowledge of relevance for support measures across disciplines and professions. It is based on a survey in the general population of Sweden (60–84 years), alongside interviews with and texts written by women and men (60+ years) living at home and exposed to partner violence. The survey was distributed via a web panel, nationally representative of those with regular access to internet, and completed by around 5000 persons. The responses are analysed using descriptive statistics and correlation analyses. This presentation will discuss preliminary results of the survey, focusing on help-seeking after exposure to violence and analysing any differences in help-seeking behaviour related to gender, class and migration background. We will discuss implications of our findings for future research and social work practice, in furthering support for those exposed or at risk and developing interventions aimed at preventing partner violence in this age group.