Commissioner’s Blog: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day – Time for a change in focus

Every year on 15 June, organisations across the world work together to highlight the scale, nature and impact of the abuse experienced by older people, as well as the help and support available, under the banner of ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’.

When the day was established by the United Nations nearly two decades ago, there was very little understanding amongst practitioners or wider society about the abuse faced by older people. Establishing the day therefore marked an important step forward in ensuring that older people’s experiences were recognised and in highlighting the need for action.

Evidence shows, however, that the term ‘elder abuse’ can lead to problematic assumptions and unintended consequences that undermine progress in protecting and supporting older people.

For example, the term ‘elder abuse’ reduces individuals and their specific experiences into a category, framing people by their age and a broad sense of victimhood. This reinforces ageist stereotypes, presenting older people as a passive, homogenous group, rather than recognising people’s individual identities, needs and the harm they may be experiencing and responding accordingly.

Furthermore, using the term ‘elder abuse’ implies that what older people experience is somehow different to the abuse faced by people from other age groups, which impacts upon the ways these issues are investigated and responded to. We know, for example, that cases where the abuse of an older person is suspected is often referred to social services rather than the police, leading to missed opportunities to identify potential criminal offences and secure justice for individuals.

As highlighted with these examples, the words we use can have a powerful effect on the way that issues are understood, prioritised, and – ultimately – how we respond.

That’s why I would like to see ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’ being renamed and refocused, to remove language that can not only act as a barrier, but also potentially limits ambition. We need to move beyond simply ‘raising awareness’ about the abuse of older people and ensure a greater focus on working together to deliver meaningful action to tackle it in all its forms, building on the progress that’s been made during the past 20 years.

In my view, an ‘International Day to End the Abuse of Older People’, reflecting the kind of language used in similar calls to action designed to support other groups, would send out a far more powerful message – both to older people and to society as a whole.

I will do all I can to help secure this important change to ensure the language we use reflects the urgency and importance of what we are trying to achieve.