Crimes on Elderly Fuel Rising FearBy Lee Opitz
For many elderly Victorians their home, once their castle, is now a fortress. But it need not be the case.
While recent reports of attacks on elderly people bother in and outside the home have made many fearful, research shows older people are, in fact less at risk of criminal victimization than other age groups.
Incidents this year include a 70 year-old woman who was stabbed and robbed by a female assailant after withdrawing money from an ATM in Boronia.
According to media reports, the incidents appear part of a growing culture of drug- and alcohol-fuelled violence.
Older people have long been regarded as ‘soft’ targets – easy prey for more physically able criminals; and because of this, are generally more afraid of becoming a victim of crime than the general public.
But according to the Australian Institute of Criminology, older people are no more vulnerable to ‘everyday’ crim s such as burglary, robbery and assault than anyone else, but are more vulnerable to abuse by family and professional carers.
This includes the abuse of older people in private homes and negligence and frau by health care, legal and finance industry professionals.
Older people who are active and involved in their communities are least likely to be anxious about crime.
Abridged
SOURCE: theSeniors (print, April Issue)
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