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Senior citizens who are robbed, kept in cages, beaten, drugged or just ignored: elderly abuse is on the rise but remains largely taboo and is still one of the least investigated types of violence worldwide, the UN warned Thursday. And the problem is likely to get worse as the world’s population grows older.
How big is the problem?
Statistics are patchy but the World Health Organization estimates between one and 10 percent of all elderly people experience some form of abuse every month. Even that may be an underestimation, with only one in 24 cases of abuse believed to be reported to the authorities.
Since 2012, the UN has observed World Elder Abuse Awareness Day every June15.
On Thursday however, it warned: “While the taboo topic of elder abuse has started to gain visibility across the world, it remains one of the least investigated types of violence in national surveys, and one of the least addressed in national action plans.”
What is elderly abuse?
A picture taken on May 4, 2017 shows the dining room of the retirement home la Maison d'Annie in Saint-Victor-sur-Loire, France.
In the majority of cases, the abuse is financial – victims are conned, denied access to their savings or robbed outright.
In some developing countries, elderly women have been accused of witchcraft to justify confiscating their property or evicting them from their homes, according to the UN.
Physical, psychological and even sexual abuse occur at home and in institutions. The culprits can be strangers, caretakers, friends, relatives, even spouses and children.
The victims’ frailty, failing mental health and often isolated situation make them easy targets. And the same factors, along with fear and shame, means they often do not disclose the abuse.
Kept in a cage
A 90-year-old woman sells roasted sweet potatoes in the street on February 20, 2017 in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, China.
In January, a video of an undernourished old woman being kept in a cage-like cell by her son caused uproar on Chinese social media.
Another video of a young Indian woman beating her mother-in-law went viral last year. Meanwhile, cases of abuse in nursing homes in Europe, the US, Israel and South Africa, make regular headlines.
A growing elderly population, coupled with a breakdown in generational links as children move away and a lack of adequate care for the elderly in developing countries, have greatly contributed to the problem.
This is seen even in societies that traditionally place a great emphasis on respecting one’s elders.
A global picture is made more difficult by varying definitions of what abuse involves: from neglect to physical injury, over-medication, verbal assaults, humiliation, confinement or theft.
Still, several countries are now taking measures to combat the problem and prevent abuse from happening in the first place.
What's being done about it?
A resident at the 'Balcons de Tivoli' nursing home in the Bordeaux region of France interacts with a Zora robot on December 29, 2016.
The US has a National Center on Elderly Abuse, France has set up a hotline to report any mistreatment of seniors, and countries from Britain to Australia and Canada have dedicated organizations and online resources with information on how to fight elderly abuse and neglect.
In 2013, China introduced a Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly that requires children to visit their parents regularly or face fines and even jail time.
Los Angeles even has an Elder Abuse Forensic Center to detect cases and better coordinate between doctors, law enforcement and social services.
A growing problem
Still the problem is getting worse.
Surveys in Japan, Korea and Singapore have already shown a rise in cases in recent years. In Italy, as many as one in three elderly persons are victims of abuse, according to the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics.
According to the UN, the number of people aged over 60 in the world will jump from 900 million in 2015 to 1.4 billion by 2030, with the biggest increase expected in Asia.
“Globally, the number of cases of elder abuse is projected to increase as many countries have rapidly ageing populations whose needs may not be fully met due to resource constraints,” the WHO has warned.
(CGTN)
