OVER 45% ELDERS ARE VICTIMS OF VERBAL ABUSE: SURVEY

HelpAge India released a nationwide report on elder abuse in India on Friday.

The event was organised at Yashpal Sabhagar, Hindi Sansthan and had Rita Bahuguna Joshi as the chief guest.

The in-depth survey that covered 23 states and 5,500 respondents, shed light on the extent of elder abuse. According to the study, daughters-in-law led as perpetrators of abuse, followed by sons, spouse, grandchildren, sons-inlaw, and daughters.

More than 45% elders, in the survey, confirmed that they were victims of verbal abuse, disrespect, and economic exploitation while 65% agreed that elder abuse happens.

The perpetrators of abuse were sons (47%), daughters-in-law (55%), spouse (9%), grandchildren (11%), daughters (3%) and sons-in-law (5%).

Rita Bahuguna Joshi spoke on how elders were abused physically and mentally.

She stressed on the importance of joint family system and spoke about the need for a family system wherein elders were respected.

She congratulated HelpAge India on their achievements in bringing about awareness on this social stigma.

AK Singh, director, HelpAge India, informed that there had been an 8% improvement in the health sector. He said the survey has been both quantitative and qualitative, taking into consideration different groups of elders based upon age.

Aditya Mishra (ADG UP100) spoke about formal training courses being undertaken by UP100 to counteract the scourge of elder abuse in India.