World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
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Elder abuse occurs in most parts of the world but in some countries, less attention is being paid to this; Elder abuse is an action or a failure to act which causes harm to older people who are people in the age bracket (60 and above). The United Nations declared World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in order to seek measures to protect older persons from further harm.
In most developing countries, older persons are faced with various challenges that causes abuse to their rights as humans; these forms of abuse include but are not limited to Neglect, Physical torture, Emotional torture, Financial abuse, and even sexual assaults. Many cases of Elder abuse remained unreported because some older persons are confined to a place and some lack the boldness to open up and report such abuses.
The theme for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2020 is “Safeguard older persons during COVID-19 and beyond”. This theme was given by the United Nations as a result of observations that older persons are at higher risk of being infected with covid19 coupled with the fact that most of them might be neglected in cases where there are younger people in need of health care or urgent medical attention. Some Older persons are vulnerable currently lacking jobs, pensions, and even food to eat.
Peace and Conflict Resolution Resource Centre (PEACrEc) identifies with all older persons who are facing various forms of abuse in the different societies of the world. We believe that older persons have the right to healthcare and other necessities of life and protecting their rights will build better peaceful societies for us all.