Help Age: 31% of Senior Citizens Face Abuse in India

HelpAge India survey reveals disquieting facts
16 Jun 2012
By Shukti Sarma 

According to the latest data released by HelpAge India, 31% of the elderly in the country face some form of abuse. Bhopal, apparently, is the worst offender, with and astounding 77.12% of the senior citizens living in the city facing abuse. The report was released on 15th June, which is marked as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The other cities that have a high incidence of elderly abuse are : Guwahati(60.55%), followed by Lucknow(52%). Delhi has seen a significant rise in this area: with 29.8% senior citizens saying they have faced abuse; compared to 12% last year. In Mumbai, 29.46% seniors faced abuse while in Chennai 27.56% did.
The report says that of these victims, 75% live with their immediate families, and 69% own the homes they live in. Pan-India, it is seen that the abuse often comes from sources people trust: the abusers are sons in 56% of the cases, daughter-in-laws on 23% cases and 24% of the victims faced abuse on a daily basis.
Elderly women are more vulnerable to abuse than men. HelpAge India’s report shows that more than half of the senior citizens have been subjected to abuse for more than five years. Almost 44% of the elderly said that disrespect was the dominant form of abuse, and 30% said that they were faced with verbal abuse and neglect.
Only 45% of the senior citizens, who faced abuse, have reported it. For others, reporting their plight was not an option because it will bring infamy to the family name. However, in such cases, ‘reporting’ usually meant talking about it to a family member or a relative. Despite the existence of helplines, NGOs or legal authorities, the elderly did not seek any social or legal intervention.

 SOURCE:     BusinessReview India
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