Violence Against the Elderly: a cross-cultural perspective

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According to the Ontario Provincial Police, elder abuse is defined as “Any action or inaction by any person which causes harm or threatens to cause harm to an older adult”. As of 2004, the General Social Survey (GSS) showed that seniors were three times less likely than non-seniors to experience victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey and 10% of seniors experienced at least one victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey. This shows that violence against the elderly has always been present in any society and its rate is now just starting to increase. It is a topic that has been usually kept in the dark and it is only now that citizens from around the world are beginning to realize that it is in fact a form of family violence and that it is not acceptable under any circumstances. The fact that this happens is because senior citizens become defenseless and they become dependent on someone, usually their family members.

Rates of elder abuse are not what they were 10 years ago; they have increased, and the rates at which these abuses occur are from 2 % to 10 %. (Lachs, Mark S., & Karl Pillemer. 2004. "Elder Abuse, “The Lancet, Vol. 364: 1192-1263.). Violence against seniors varies from culture to culture and though it happens everywhere in the world, regardless of their background, not many people knew it was happening, especially when the victims themselves keep quiet due to fear. Elderly abuse somewhat differs within cultures but nonetheless it is still unacceptable. According to the Canadian Centre for Justice, the most common form of abuse against the elderly population in Canada is emotional abuse, which is followed by financial abuse (Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2001b). Yet, other docum...

... middle of paper ...

...Family Violence laws which include abuse within the family, Criminal law which includes physical or sexual abuse, Adult Protection laws which helps seniors with their needs and Adult Guardianship laws which sees an elder as not being able to take care of themselves. So, these different laws apply to different circumstances.

Our society is just starting to understand what elder abuse is and how it affects us. Violence against the elderly takes place in many places. The abuse rate is constantly growing and so the number of elders in the world. There are a lot of laws and help that have been formed for the safety of the vulnerable. Abused elders from around the world have different perceptions of what abuse is but no matter what their culture is, the first step would be to encourage elders to speak out and know their rights and sensitize people about the issue.

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