Immigrant senior experience mental, physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse at the hand of their family members, a Wellesley Institute study shows.
By Pracheer Saran
Community workers in the GTA have expressed concerns over abuse elderly immigrants by their own family members, reacting to a report released by Wellesley Institute on April 26.
The study, conducted among 43 seniors from the Tamil community, reveals senior immigrants have experienced mental, physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse.
The respondents also expressed threat, control and neglect by their children, in-laws and spouses, while stating that they did not report the incidents because of children’s and grandchildren’s welfare, community expectations, unfamiliarity with Canadian ways, financial and immigration concerns, and limitations in accessing health, social, and settlement services.
Maya Roy, executive director of Newcomer Women’s Services said senior immigrants are not aware of the term elder abuse: “The issue only comes up in a group when people meet in class, get to know each other and start talking.”
According to Teri Kay of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, there are no clear statistics to gauge the extent of the problem but about 4 and 10 per cent of seniors have experienced abuse. “The issue is just beginning to come out of the closet. For immigrant seniors, the cultural differences add to the mix of language barrier and other issues to access help, " said Kay.
Immigrant agencies urge frontline workers, friends and neighbours of senior to be vigilant. The government has also started campaigns through various ethnic communities-serving media outlets to create awareness on the issue.
Maya Roy, executive director of Newcomer Women’s Services said senior immigrants are not aware of the term elder abuse: “The issue only comes up in a group when people meet in class, get to know each other and start talking.”
According to Teri Kay of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, there are no clear statistics to gauge the extent of the problem but about 4 and 10 per cent of seniors have experienced abuse. “The issue is just beginning to come out of the closet. For immigrant seniors, the cultural differences add to the mix of language barrier and other issues to access help, " said Kay.
Immigrant agencies urge frontline workers, friends and neighbours of senior to be vigilant. The government has also started campaigns through various ethnic communities-serving media outlets to create awareness on the issue.
The network has launched a 154-language senior safety phone line in April 2009 and received 4,500 calls in its first year.
SOURCE: CanadianImmigration.CA
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