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PROGRESS REPORT ON... elder abuse

Donna Stewart

BC Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of Seniors

I don't feel super-informed about the true level of violence in the home. I've seen research that indicates that it hasn't diminished at all, but I don't know if that is reliable. Perhaps what we are seeing is a bigger tip of the iceberg, now that there are more transition houses, more services, more willingness on the part of the justice system to take domestic violence seriously. Recently, more senior women have accessed transition house services, and that is a big change. It is wonderful that they have the courage and the confidence in the services, but why should they have to leave their homes?

If there has been an improvement (in the occurrence of domestic violence), it seems to me that it is in treating men - the attitudes that lead to abusive behavior-but that's younger men. I doubt that it's impacting seniors yet.

I hope that publicity is bringing elder abuse out of the closet, and making it easier for seniors to identify abuse and resist it, but it's hard to gauge if that's reducing it yet or not. I am no longer in touch with the larger field, but am confining my activities to the needs of seniors, since I'm 70 myself, and unlikely to be respected by service providers or survivors who are younger. More and more I hear from seniors who are victims of "road rage", which is probably just a symptom of more general ageism, itself the result of generic dissatisfaction on th part of a lot of males in particular. But I don't know if this has become a widespread issue. In BC at the moment, the hot topic is "How can the "Designated Agencies" - health care regions - respond to their new responsibilities once the Adult Guardianship Legislation is in effect February 28th?"

I'd like to see more examination of the systemic causes of violence. It is not surprising to me that people who have been taught to yearn for material satisfactions, but who find those increasingly unavailable except to the affluent few, are continually angry, especially since the cheap form of entertainment, available even to the unemployed, celebrates violence in the interest of selling material goods. I don't know how we research those connections, or how we sift out the emotional/social immaturity fostered by that form of entertainment, or how we would change the social realities if we did have an open/shut case against the present entertainment culture. But I am sure that seniors are suffering the consequences.