Recalling the NCW Conference on Abuse of the Elderly entitled "I am ME not my age" as part of the 16 days of activism campaign against Domestic Violence,
Aware that abuse of the older person could occur in either institutional or domestic settings, and that abuse may consist of a single act or repeated actions that involve all forms of abuse, including physical, psychological, emotional, verbal, financial, material, sexual, rights, stranger and cyber abuse. Abuse may also consist of intentional or unintentional neglect, such as ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health care, social care, adequate nutrition and heating, discrimination & ageism, as well as the impairment of an avoidable deterioration in physical, mental health,
Concerned that the victims most likely to be abused are persons aged 60 and over, who are vulnerable, illiterate or semi-illiterate, dependent on others for their basic needs, unable to communicate effectively, have dementia and/or mental impairments, have visual/hearing impairments or have physical disabilities,
Noting that the abuser could be a family member or a care-giver, an acquaintance or even a stranger,
Recognizing that abuse of the older person is not excusable and can be stopped,
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN CALLS ON ITS NATIONAL COUNCILS TO URGE THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS TO:
• Implement and enforce effective penalties that act as a deterrent to abuse of the elderly, provide training for police and social workers to deal professionally and effectively with cases of abuse of the elderly, as well as to appoint a team of different professionals to serve as a point of referral and deal with all elderly abuse cases;
• Provide funding for prevention programs to create more awareness and more efficient measures for society with which to identify and assist victims though media, schools, seminars/conferences, and NGOs working in this field;
• Educate society of their obligation to fight negative behaviour/attitudes towards older/vulnerable persons whilst promoting the right and dignity of the older person and to report suspicions of abuse to the police or social service agencies;
• Provide information, training and measures for family members and caregivers to learn care-giving skills, to seek support from others, to cope with stress and to avoid burnout;
• Stress the need to conduct research and collect statistics on abuse of the elderly from social service agencies and police to be used as educational tools for setting policy and implementing measures to eradicate such abuse.
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Source: International Council of Women (ICW-CIF) — 35th General Assembly, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, September 13-18, 2018. Resolution No. 2.
