title: Facing up to violent reality.
abstract: Last month's call by the all-party Home Affairs Select Committee for schoolchildren to be taught about domestic violence is most welcome. 'Domestic violence is the largest cause of morbidity worldwide in women aged 19 to 44, greater than war, cancer or motor vehicle accidents,' says the committee's report ( House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2008 ). The issue should, as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children puts it, 'be part of children's personal social, health and economic education lessons'. But while the report paid particular attention to women in 'forced' marriages, it completely overlooked a growing sector of women who suffer domestic violence - older women.