National Safeguarding Week 2025
National Safeguarding Week in Wales provides an important opportunity for all of us – across public services, government, and communities – to reflect on how we recognise, respond to, and prevent abuse in all its forms.
For me, as Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, safeguarding continues to be a central focus of my work. Too many older people in Wales still experience abuse –physical, emotional, financial, sexual, and neglect – often at the hands of those they should be able to trust most. Behind every statistic is a person whose dignity, autonomy and safety have been compromised. Ensuring their voices are heard and their rights upheld must remain our shared priority.
A Continued Focus on Tackling Abuse
During my first year as Commissioner, I have worked to shine a light on the abuse and neglect that older people experience, to strengthen safeguarding practice, and to ensure accountability where systems fail to protect.
I chair the Stopping Abuse Action Group, which brings together partners from across Wales to drive forward improvements in how we identify and respond to abuse. This group is helping to shape practical changes – highlighting issues of concern, sharing learning, challenging poor practice, and ensuring that older people’s safety and rights are at the heart of safeguarding policies and procedures.
This year, my Work Programme places a particular focus on improving responses to older people’s experiences of sexual violence. Sexual abuse of older people remains one of the most hidden and least understood forms of abuse, often shrouded in stigma, disbelief, and silence. I am determined to ensure that older survivors receive the understanding, compassion, and specialist support they need, and that professionals are equipped to recognise the signs and respond appropriately.
Holding Systems to Account
As Commissioner, I continue to hold Welsh Government and public bodies to account for the actions they take – or fail to take – to tackle the abuse of older people. Despite progress in recent years, much more still needs to be done to embed consistent, person-centred safeguarding across Wales.
Older people’s safeguarding can be complex. Issues such as mental capacity, consent, and autonomy must be handled with great care, ensuring that protection is always balanced against the individual’s right to make their own choices. Access to independent advocacy is crucial here, helping to ensure that older people’s voices are central to any decisions made about their safety and wellbeing.
More Work to Do
We have a collective responsibility to ensure that every older person in Wales lives free from abuse and neglect, with access to the right support at the right time. This means continuing to challenge assumptions, build professional confidence, and ensure that safeguarding practice recognises the particular vulnerabilities – and strengths – of older people.
National Safeguarding Week is not just a moment of awareness, but a call to action. It reminds us that safeguarding is everyone’s business, and that our shared efforts must continue until every older person in Wales can live their later life in safety, dignity and respect.
