UN urges action to prevent
and protect older persons from abuse
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| Artistic depiction of an elderly couple |
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, June 15, intends to create
awareness regarding the abuse that elderly people face, and to protect their
human rights and dignity.
By Robin Gomes
According to estimates by the UN World Health Organization
(WHO), 1 in 6 people aged over 60 suffers from abuse – that means nearly 141
million people globally. This number might be much higher as elder abuse is one
of the most hidden and under-reported violations.
Claudia Mahler, the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment
of all human rights by older persons, is urging all governments and the
international community to exercise global solidarity and step up action to
effectively prevent and protect older persons from physical and psychological
abuse, including neglect.
WHO defines elder abuse as "a single, or repeated act,
or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship, where there
is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older
person." Elder abuse can take various forms such as physical,
psychological or emotional, sexual and financial abuse. It can also be the
result of intentional or unintentional neglect.
"While older persons have become more visible in the
COVID-19 outbreak, their voices, opinions and concerns remain unheard,” says
Mahler in a message for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, marked on Monday.
Verbal abuse
“With the number of older persons dying in homes, hospitals
and institutions growing exponentially all over the world,” she notes, “it is
disheartening to continue to read cruel and dehumanising language on social
media referring to older persons.” “Verbal abuse,” she says, “clearly
occurs in contexts when older persons face old age discrimination ('ageism').”
Appointed as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all
human rights by older persons in May, Mahler says she wants to “raise awareness
that violence, abuse and neglect [of the elder] do not only occur in the open
and very often are not visible to society”. “Societies,” she says, “must
raise their voices against verbal abuse and older persons, especially older
women, must be included in the discussion on prevention of all types of
violence against them.”
The UN has another day dedicated to the elderly. The
International Day of Older Persons, on October 1, intends to highlight the
important contributions that older people make to society and raises awareness
of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world.
Pope Francis on elderly
On several occasions, Pope Francis has underscored the value
of the elderly and their protection.
During the Covid-19 lockdown in Italy, the Holy Father
dedicated his Mass of April 15 for the elderly, especially those who are in
isolation on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of them, he said, are
afraid of dying alone but “they are our roots, our story, our history” he said
at the start of the Mass, streamed live. He invited all to pray for them,
“that the Lord might be close to them in this moment.”
The Holy Father also dedicated an entire general audience to
the elderly, saying that ignoring and abandoning the elderly "is a brutal
thing, it is a sin.” Speaking at the general audience on March 4, 2015,
he recalled Pope Benedict XVI who said, “The quality of a society, I mean of a
civilization, is also judged by how it treats elderly people and by the place
it gives them in community life.”
The Pope noted "something vile" in this
"throw-away culture”, that rejects people who are not useful or
profitable. “We want to remove our growing fear of weakness and vulnerability;
but by doing so we increase in the elderly the anxiety of being poorly tolerated
and neglected.”
“In a civilization in which there is no room for the elderly
or where they are thrown away because they create problems,” Pope Francis
warned, “this society carries with it the virus of death.”
UN on Covid-19 and elderly people
The UN on May 1 launched a new policy initiative addressing
the challenges faced by the elderly during and after the pandemic.
“The fatality rate for older people is higher overall, and
for those over 80, it is five times the global average,” UN Secretary-General
António Guterres noted in a video message for the launch of the policy brief
entitled, “The Impact of COVID-19 on older persons”.
Guterres noted that beyond its immediate health impact, “the
pandemic is putting older people at greater risk of poverty, discrimination and
isolation, with a particularly devastating impact on older people in developing
countries.”
A WHO report in early April pointed out that in the world’s
top 30 countries with the largest percentage of older people, over 95% of
Covid-19 deaths occurred among those older than 60 years. More than 50% of all
fatalities involved people aged 80 years or older.
Noting that the Covid-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and
suffering for older people across the world, he appealed that humanity’s response
to the virus includes respect for the rights and dignity of older people.
Key facts of elder abuse
- Around 1 in 6 people 60 years and older experienced some
form of abuse in community settings during the past year;
- Rates of elder abuse are high in institutions such as
nursing homes and long-term care facilities, with 2 in 3 staff reporting that
they have committed abuse in the past year;
- Elder abuse can lead to serious physical injuries and
long-term psychological consequences;
- Elder abuse is predicted to increase as many countries are
experiencing rapidly ageing populations;
- The global population of people aged 60 years and older
will more than double, from 900 million in 2015 to about 2 billion in 2050.
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