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National Alliance Webinar – Abuse in Later Life: Collaborating to Support Survivors

Webinar January 31, 2023

Abuse in Later Life: Collaborating to Support Survivors


Older adults who experience abuse are often overlooked by services and community responses. Victim advocacy services are often designed with younger adults in mind. At the same time, the elder abuse field often overlooks coercive power and control dynamics, and responses aren’t designed for the context of domestic and sexual violence. When this happens, there is gap between fields; domestic and sexual violence experienced by older adults isn’t recognized and older survivors are often unable to access the support and services they need. Yet, developing services and collaborations to address abuse in later life will only become more urgent; the aging of the country’s population is one of the most significant demographic trends of our time. As a result of attending this webinar, participants will be better able to: 

  • Describe abuse in later life

  • Recognize common challenges faced by older victims of abuse

  • Outline strategies for working with older survivors

  • Articulate the importance of inter-agency collaboration in response to abuse in later life

  • Identify available NCALL resources.

Speaker: Kristin Burki, Director of the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL)

Cost: Free for members / $25 for non-members


About the speaker: Kristin Burki

Kristin Burki is the Director of the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL), a project of End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin (End Abuse). This role builds upon Burki's social work career at the direct practice, organizational leadership, and systems levels focused on effective responses to abuse across the lifespan. These experiences have resulted in her deep commitment to addressing the interconnection of services, community, and system factors that are tied to the safety, justice, and healing of older survivors. 

Burki has 20 years of experience in the gender-based violence movement, initially as a member of a statewide AmeriCorps team of gender-based violence advocates and community educators in Oregon, followed with roles as Support Group Coordinator and Director of Services at Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) in Madison, WI and in the position of Prevention and Early Intervention Section Manager for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. 

She also taught for four years at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison a graduate course focused on integrating social work theory with practice. 

Burki holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. She is a certified Advanced Practice Social Worker in the state of Wisconsin.