COMMENT

THE appalling abuse and neglect of older people has been attracting increased media attention and public outrage in recent years.

Yet very little has changed. This report sheds light on a problem that’s seldom acknowledged: domestic abuse and violence affects all ages, with older people no exception.

The fact that at least 200,000 people aged 60 and over are the victims of domestic abuse every year is deeply shocking.

It also confirms what we at Action on Elder Abuse have known for a long time: that the vast majority of instances of abuse of older people – whether financial, physical, psychological or sexual – are perpetrated by those closest to the victim, be they family members or carers.

However, calls to our helpline (080 8808 8141) suggest that many victims are terrified of speaking up.

Around one million older people are suffering abuse each year, and we see less than one per cent of perpetrators being prosecuted.

What we are witnessing is an epidemic of cruelty and suffering, with victims often too frightened to speak out.

We, as a society, accept that where victims of crime are targeted due to race, sexuality or religion, punishments should be tougher to send a message that these kinds of crimes won’t be tolerated.

However, despite older people being deliberately targeted on a daily basis due to their perceived vulnerability, we don’t seem to give these appalling crimes the same priority.

We would like to see better training of health workers and the police to spot cases of abuse sooner.

But more than that, we want to see the abuse of vulnerable people become a specific offence in its own right.

Older victims of crime deserve the same protections as other groups to end this horrendous epidemic.