World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is
observed on 15 June 2017. Almost all countries are expected to see substantial
growth in the number of older persons to 2030, and that growth will be faster
in developing regions.
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.
Recent research findings draw specific
attention to financial exploitation and material abuse of older persons as a
common and serious problem. Based on available evidence, 5% to 10% of older
people globally may experience some kind of financial exploitation. However,
such abuse often goes unreported, partly due to shame and embarrassment on the
part of the victims or their inability to report it because of cognitive and
other impairments, and most prevalence studies are based on self-reported
surveys.
Financial exploitation takes many forms.
In developed countries, the abuse often encompasses theft, forgery, misuse of
property and power of attorney, as well as denying access to funds. The
overwhelming majority of financial exploitation in less developed countries
includes accusations of witchcraft that are used to justify property grabbing,
ejection from homes of and denial of family inheritance to widows. Risk factors
for falling victim to financial exploitation range from social isolation and
cognitive impairment to emotional or physical dependence on the perpetrator,
financial dependence of the abuser on the older person, certain living
arrangements, poverty, widowhood and lack of support networks, in addition to
ageism and other types of prejudice, discriminatory inheritance systems, as
well as weak police and criminal justice systems.
In particular, the 2017 theme underscores
the importance of preventing financial exploitation in the context of elder
abuse to the enjoyment of older persons’ human rights. In line with the 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda and the Madrid International Plan of Action on
Ageing, older people have the right to a life of dignity in old age, free of
all forms of abuse, including financial and material exploitation, which could
lead to poverty, hunger, homelessness, compromised health and well-being, and
even premature mortality.
The 2017 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
(WEAAD) theme will explore effective means of strengthening protections against
financial and material exploitation, including by improving the understanding
of this form of elder abuse and discussing ways of ensuring the participation
of older adults themselves in ending victimization. It will further serve to
inform the thematic discussions of the upcoming eighth session of the General
Assembly’s Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, which will take place in New
York from 5-7 July 2017.
Objectives
- Frame financial exploitation and material abuse of older persons within the context of human rights;
- Promote research across countries to identify the scale and severity of financial exploitation and its impact on older persons, their families, communities and countries in order to raise public awareness and to inform appropriate responses;
- Stress the urgent need for Member States to take concrete action and develop specific measures to address and monitor financial exploitation and material abuse in the context of an ageing society;
- Share good practices of legislative initiatives and programmatic interventions on detecting and dealing with financial exploitation.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different
in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament
(2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a
Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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