EXPERT OPINION: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Every year, June 15 is internationally recognised as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The aim of this day is to raise awareness of the elderly as a vulnerable group in society. The South African Council for the Aged highlight that older persons are all too often the victims of severe maltreatment.

Covid 19 and the threat of illness and death has highlighted the vulnerability of the elderly population.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about the often hidden societal secret of abuse that is directed at senior citizens.

This is the generation whose sacrifices laid the foundation for the freedoms and liberty that we now enjoy. They endured the full horror of the social and economic oppression of apartheid and systemic deprivation. They emerged as mothers and fathers to build families and communities and new opportunities.

Now in what should be their golden years of honour, many face physical, emotional and financial abuse from those that should be showing them care and support.

Since 1994, the government has implemented a transformation agenda by rewriting legislation and policies in order to give previously disadvantaged groups, including the elderly, a better deal. Legislation alone cannot protect elders from abuse. Elder abuse must still be viewed as part of a broad landscape of structural inequalities and other human rights issues in the country. Many complex social problems such as chronic poverty, wide unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse contributes to an environment in which abuse and neglect continue to occur, and these must be addressed simultaneously.

The socio-economic conditions of poor older persons have improved substantially, mainly due to the equalization and wider distribution of the non-contributory social old age grant. However, many old age pension funds are diverted to carry the financial burden of the whole extended family, this often against their will. Some suffer the indignity of verbal and emotional abuse or the disappointment of being taken for granted, humiliated, disgraced and ridiculed. Others face the real danger of being mistreated, assaulted or beaten. Violent forms of abuse include sexual rape of older women in order to extort pension money and allegations of witchcraft against frail and vulnerable older women in order to seize assets and land. These have severe physical and emotional consequences for elder women.

“We call on the University community to spread the word about the horrors of elder abuse. We urge individuals, groups and communities to contribute to a society that treats its senior citizens with the dignity and respect they deserve for the contribution they have made to society. Please find ways to show kindness, love and respect to our elders. Be mindful of their Covid 19 vulnerabilities and our collective responsibility to protect and care for them during the ongoing pandemic. Elder abuse must stop! Report all forms of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation to your local department of social development or police station.” Said Ndlovu. Lecturer in Social Work.

•  Mrs Nomandla Beloved Ndlovu

Department of Social Work, University of Zululand.