By Annalise Kempen
Photos courtesy of Pexels
There is a saying that not everyone is given the chance to grow old and that it is a privilege denied to many. How sad then that those who are given the chance to grow old, sometimes face neglect and abuse – not by strangers, but by those who are meant to care for them, including their own family members. Neglect, as a form of abuse, does not simply refer to children who do not visit their elderly parents, it is more complicated – and as a form of abuse it is also punishable by law.
In her article entitled “Elderly, fragile, forgotten victims of crime,” published from p26 in this issue of Servamus, my colleague Kotie Geldenhuys cites various examples of elderly persons (those who are 60 years and older) who have been the victims of abuse. She simultaneously notes that the World Health Organisation (WHO) informs us that only about 4% of all elderly abuse is reported. In 2022, the WHO reported that one in six people older than 60 years have reported that they have experienced some form of abuse in community settings in the previous year.
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[This is only an extract of an article that is published in Servamus: May 2024. This article is available for purchase.]