World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Individuals expect their lives to be peaceful once they turn a certain age. While some have the courage to fulfil their incomplete ambitions, for others, the retirement age is life-changing. One moment they are valuable assets for their family and the next moment they are treated like a burden. The abuse of elders is one of the many vices of the modern world, and World Elder Abuse Awareness Day seeks to educate the masses about it.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day | Source: Carewatch

Despite the common expectation that older people are expected to have a higher social standing, seeing and hearing stories of cruelty towards senior citizens is frequent. In recent years, cases of abuse of elders have seen an all-time high. The reasons for this change can be many. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was first celebrated on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization. This day aims to make people aware of the abuse that the elderly tolerate and the steps they might take to help prevent it.

Commonly, individuals aged 60 and above are considered elders. However, this category also has a grey area that includes individuals who have aged physically, retired parents with health issues, and disabled individuals above fifty, among others. Abuse, in any form, is a violation of human rights; however, the age of these helpless victims makes it even more difficult for them to retaliate against the treatment that they are subjected to.

In addition to this, more often than not, the perpetrators are their own children, relatives, and family members. The abuse is thus not limited to physical violations; many of these subjects suffer from severe PTSD and mental and emotional fatigue. In proper terms, the UN defines it as "a single, 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 is an intersectional problem where determinants such as age, economic condition, social status, and mental health crisis play a role. In addition to this, society often treats it as a personal matter that has to be settled in the domestic sphere. Especially in a country like India, elders are considered to be the head of the family and thus the most respected. Hypocrisy is laid bare when we go through records of elder abuse prevalence that scale as high as 61.7% in a limited ten-city survey conducted in 2014.

The UN International Plan of Action describes elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is for individuals to observe the elders around them and take notice of the challenges they may be facing in or outside the household. This day encourages anyone suspicious of an elder being abused to speak up and save them. This becomes an essential part of preventing elder abuse, especially because the elders usually aren’t familiar with newer technology and thus have no means to seek help, even if they wish to.

On this day, sites like the National Centre on Law and Elder Rights, Savvy Saving Seniors: Steps to Avoiding Scams, and Ageless Alliance, which dedicate themselves to the safety and well-being of elders, are promoted. People are also urged to show their support for books, movies, and documentaries that promote understanding of the well-being of elders and their rights as well as justice for their mistreatment.