Rescued Elder Abuse Victims: What Now? (International)

By Andrew C

It must be a relief for victims of elder abuse to have someone who will listen to their ‘story’ and then be rescued from an abusive situation.

What happens to elder abuse victims, after they have been rescued from an abusive situation?

What if the abuser was a spouse or family member?

Can they ever forgive the abuser(s) and resume ‘normal’ relationship?

We cannot begin to imagine the pains victims have to go through in the aforesaid scenarios.

Many of the victims find it hard to resume relationship with their abuser(s). Do we blame them?

The tragic fact is that many victims just do not have services available to them for support or counseling. They might have lost the only carer they had.

Unlike child abuse victims who get support services to ensure that they can move on with their lives; elder abuse victims are often expected to do it alone. After all, they are adults and should be able to look after themselves.

NOT TRUE!

Firstly, victims of elder abuse are often vulnerable because of their frailty in health. They are often isolated by their abusers, so they just do not have the support needed. And, we wondered why many do not report elder abuse?

What can we do about such situations?

How can we support the victims after the rescue?

There are no simple solutions. Some may say that it is impossible to give them any sort of support.  They (the victims) are on their own.

Political move like ‘dignity drive’ is great, but where are the support systems that help the drive along?

I have posted too many questions here, but they have to be asked because many victims are already too traumatized to ask them. Some victims may even have the notion that they had been a nuisance by reporting the abuses. They were brought up to keep shameful family secrets to themselves.

I do not have any answers to questions posed here. Perhaps, some others may have the ability to take up the challenge of pushing for support for the ‘rescued’ elder abuse victims.

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