95% cases of Elder Abuse remain unreported in India
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 15 th June, 2011 Majority of older persons rely completely on their family members or other relatives to help them. Whether it is for physical or emotional needs, as people grow older they tend to need more and more help from others. Even old people living alone also need help from their relatives/neighbors/friends/caregivers. This dependence on family members / relatives and care-givers makes an older person more vulnerable to abuse. Elder abuse, the mistreatment and torture of older people, a manifestation of the timeless phenomenon of inter-personal violence is prevalent in Indian families too. This is an extremely sorry state of affairs. Imagine, being mistreated, verbally abused, and denied proper food, proper medication and care by younger members of family. Older people are indeed in a very helpless situation with eroding social value system in India. It wa...