15 June World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Abuse of older people is not acceptable and as a community we should not tolerate its occurrence, anywhere, under any circumstances, says COTA Victoria, which is holding a forum for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2007. The forum will target service providers to enable them to respond to abuse of older people in a more effective way.
“It is an issue of great concern to senior Victorians,” said Sue Hendy,
executive director of COTA Victoria.
“At present, however, there are some serious issues that need addressing.
“There are gaps in the support services available to deal with elder
abuse, and a lack of understanding about the complexity and the private
nature of much of the abuse. There is often a sense of shame on the part of the older person – a disinclination to talk to others. ”
“We need to support older people who wish to report an incident of
abuse,” said Ms. Hendy.
“We need to bring the issue out into the open, and encourage older
people, their carers and family members to speak out.”
15 June is the date designated by the United Nations for the
awareness of, and focus on, prevention of abuse of older people.
