WORLD ELDER ABUSE DAY – 15 JUNE 2018

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, including the following forms:

• physical abuse such as hitting, slapping, pushing or restraining;
• emotional/psychological abuse that cause emotional distress and suffering; including being humiliated, insulted, shouted at, or isolated;
• financial/material abuse, including the misuse of the money or property of the older person;
• social/physical isolation, by abandoning older persons or locking them in a room;
• neglect, in not providing in the basic needs of the older person such as shelter, food, clothing or medication;
• sexual abuse, including sexual assault or harassment; and
• the violation of the human rights of older persons by denying them their dignity, privacy, and freedom of expression.

We, as the Department of Social Work and Criminology, uphold the principles of respect for human rights and diversity, and strive towards promoting a safe, secure and empowered society. 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.

We therefore fully support the call of the SA Council of the Aged that people should take collective responsibility for the protection of older persons against all forms of abuse by speaking up and acting against elder abuse.

The Council can be contacted on their Care-Line (0800 333 231) or via their website (www.age-in-action.co.za).