Dr Mandeep Azad and Dr Manmeet Motan
The abuse of elderly people in India has risen drastically as per a survey conducted by Help Age India. Emotional dependence, changing ethos and economic dependence were the underlying reasons for the abuse.Half of the elderly (50 percent) reportedly experiencing abuse. 48 percent males and 53 percent females reported personal experience of abuse. In 2014 the percent of elders abused went up drastically from 23 percent in the previous year to 50 percent. Within the Tier I cities surveyed, Delhi ranks the lowest (22 percent) with Bengaluru at highest (75 percent). In the Tier II cities Kanpur is lowest (13 percent) and Nagpur is the highest (85 percent). Verbal Abuse (41 percent),Disrespect (33 percent) and Neglect (29 percent) are ranked as the most common types of abuse experienced by the elderly. These three types of abuse are also the same as cited in previous years and also are in consonance with the general perception among elderly. Elders across cities were asked about the abusers within their family. The Daughter-in-law (61 percent) and Son (59 percent) emerged as the topmost perpetrators. This is a trend that is continuing from the previous years. The elder victims cite that the primary reasons underlying their abuse are:‘emotional dependence on the abuser’ (46 percent), ‘economic dependence on the abuser’ (45 percent) and ‘changing ethos’ (38 percent). 46 percent reported facing abuse for 3-5 years, while 25 percent reported 1-2 years. Sadly, 4 percent of the elderly reported to be facing abuse for more than 15 years. Every year the number of people who are admitting to suffer abuse for 3-5 years has jumped to 46 percent as against 28 percent the previous years. While abuse has gone up, unfortunately still 41 percent of those abused, did not report the matter to anyone. “Maintaining confidentiality of the family matter” is cited to be the major reason behind not reporting abuse (59 percent). An interesting observation about the Reasons for Not Reporting abuse, is that in Metro cities there is marked ‘lack of confidence in the any person or agency to deal with the problem’ and also there seems to be a general feeling of “did not know how to deal with the abuse”. However “Fear of retaliation” appears in 3 out of 6 Tier II cities, unlike the Tier I cities. All elders surveyed seemed most aware of the police helpline at 67 percent. In the case· of victims the awareness level continues to be high at 64 percent but only 12 percent approached the police.
With life expectancy increasing steadily, more and more people are living longer. And with this has come a number of new risks and challenges. Being harassed by their children for their deposits and property; Their signatures being faked to take loans against the properties. Children refusing to take elderly parents to the doctor for treatment; not getting their food or medication on time; rude language and behaviour; threats to throw them out on the streets if they complain.
These are some of the types of elder abuse, say those working to prevent it. Given our cultural conditioning, it is expected that children, especially the sons, would take care of parents in their old age.Over two-thirds of elderly people in India say they are neglected by their family members while one third of the elderly claimed to have suffered physical or verbal abuse, with those in urban areas bearing the brunt more than in the rural areas
If you thought India is one of the few countries where the young respect their elders, it’s time for some reality check. HelpAge India has released a report titled ‘Elder Abuse – The survey across 20 cities revealed that 73 percent of responders accepted that abuse of the elderly exists in society. One in three persons surveyed said they would do nothing about it. Across the country, 37 percent of the youths surveyed preferred to stay passive in the face of elderly abuse. 29 percent youth in the country feel that ‘physical abuse and beating up’ is a common type of abuse. What is surprising is that the Youth of today are aware of problem, they understand the reasons which precipitate abuse. They have clear solutions on how to avert abuse, but yet seem unwilling to act. Take the case of Delhi where 85 percent of the youth admit Elder Abuse exists yet 92 percent say that they won’t act to prevent it,” The 2014 report by HelpAge India said that half of India’s elderly (50 percent) surveyed reportedly experienced abuse. And, who were the culprits? Their own children.
Population ageing is one of the most serious challenges that India is likely to face in the near future, but unfortunately, the government and society have not woken up to the fact and are still content with paying lip service to the issue. There are only two areas that have received some attention and that too is woefully inadequate given the magnitude of the problem of health care and social security. If in the next three decades, 20 percent of the population is going to be over 60 years of age, how will we be able to provide them with an enabling environment for productive and active ageing? We need earnest and systematic thinking and programme implementation structures with adequate financial and human resources required to deal with the challenge of population ageing. India is greying, rapidly and silently, and it is time that we as a nation start the process of planning for old age. Is it too much to ask the government to commit 1 percent of the GDP to the various schemes benefiting 10 percent of the population? Is it too much to ask the government to ensure that each ministry allocates proportionate human and material resources to deal with the respective aspects of age care? Is it too much to ask the refurbished Niti Aayog to continue to include the important concerns of the ageing population in its deliberations? Lastly, but most importantly, is it too much to ask the representatives of the people in the Indian Parliament to ask certain pertinent questions on behalf of the voiceless 10 million Indian elderly.
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