“My Sons want to sell the house to start their own business, they often ask me when you will die.” 63-year-old, Inderjeet Singh (Amritsar).
“I sold my old property and purchased a flat as I did not have houses to live in, as a result of my Son just left me to fend for myself, as he wanted all the money for his own business” 64-year-old, Siddesh (Dehradun).
“I am a widower and not earning, my Son told me why you don’t go back to your village as he finds me a burden.” 65-year-old, Pinaki Chakraborty (Kolkata).
“My Son asks me to do household chores and look after his children as if I am their servant.” 65-year-old, Savita Khan (Kanpur).
“As my age is increasing I get tired easily, my Son often sends me out for civil work and says what are you doing at home” 67-year-old, Rakesh Chauhan (Delhi).
“I am suffering from a disease and do most things on the bed, my Daughter-in-law often fights with my Son due to sanitation/hygiene problems caused by me” 75-year-old, Amit Srivastava (Nagpur).
“My Daughter-in-law does not like my Son spending money on me due to my ill-health. She thinks her recreational opportunities are being curtailed” 69-year-old, Radha Raman (Lucknow).
“My Son shouted at me when I purchased a costly watch from my pension money, he said you are wasting money” 64-year-old, Prem Lata (Lucknow).
“My Daughter-in-law wanted our property to be transferred in her name, to pressurize, she put a dowry charge on me” 65 years old, Suman Sharma (Delhi).
“My Daughter-in-law kicked me hard when nobody was at home and registered a false police complaint against me” 62 years old, Vineeta (Kanpur).
“My Son and Daughter in-law do not allow my grandchildren to meet me, they don’t even care about my health problems” 72 years old, Hariprakash (Patna).
“I went to the police station to register a complaint against my Son, but the officer arrested me instead and threatened to put me in a lock-up forever” 63 years old, Jaspreet (Amritsar).
“Behaviour of my Son has been changed after registering the property in his name, he now harasses me frequently.” 75 years old, Abdul (Bhopal).
“I need to obey instructions of my Son & Daughter-in-law even to eat food.” 66 years old, Sanjeevbhai (Ahmedabad).
“No one comes to see me whenever I have a sanitation related problem.” 76 years old, Geeta Devi (Delhi) “It’s been a long time and I have not heard from my Son, is he alive?” 76 years old, Dineshbhai (Ahmedabad)
((Names have been changed to protect the identity of the abused). These Victims of Elder Abuse give voice to their wounds in a recent survey. If the trend is not arrested, any one of us can be among these victims as time cycle moves fast and every one turns comes.
Wrecking fad for smartphones and internet has adversely affected families, and at many places, elderly people are at receiving end and are faced with elderly abuse.
A recent study unwrapped disturbing trends and flagged major concerns in the Indian society standing at the threshold of anarchical state of affairs for old people.
More than 60% elderly agreed that quality time spent by their adult children as well grandchildren with them has decreased with an increase in the usage of phones/computers. About 65% elderly raised concern over mobile usage behavior and stated that extreme attention given to phones/ computers is disrespectful.
Perception of elderly about mobile phone vis a vis Elder Abuse Among the elderly, more than two-third elderly agreed that their adult children, as well as grandchildren, remain too busy on the phone even when at home with them.
The concern “extreme attention given to phones/ computers is disrespectful” is more expressed by elders living in Tier-1 cities (71%) as compared to elder living in Tier-2 cities (63%).
The tops five cities where most of the elders (more than 75%) expressed this issue are Mangalore, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad and Amritsar.
The issue is reported least (27%) in Vizag.
An elderly aged 70 years from Hyderabad said “The invention of social media has not favorably impacted the older people since social media entices people to spend more time online and less time talking to a person's face to face.
Discussion within the family members, women welfare helpline numbers, Vridha Ashrams, and different NGOs are the most effective way to deal with Elder Abuse”.
Few the elderly from Ahmedabad said that “Social Media and mobile phones have designed a boundary line between the two groups (old and young generation) that has created a communication barrier between the two.
Informatively, the HelpAge India has been conducting similar surveys for the past several years. This year’s survey (2018) on Elder Abuse was conducted in 23 cities of India by interviewing elderly above 60 years of age
The most effective way to deal with the Elder Abuse has believed to be maintaining the long-standing patterns of interdependence between the generations of a family which makes them united and strong”.
The advent of the mobile phone has connected the elderly with the exposure of the outer world in terms of their relatives and children living within and outside India, helps in exchanging emotions, whereas the prolonged hours of the young generation spent on mobile phones leave the elder in isolation.
India is undergoing a demographic transition! While 8 percent of its population was recorded 60 years and above in 2011 Census, it is expected to increase its share to 12.5 percent and 20 percent by 2026 and 2050 respectively.
With this kind of an aging scenario, there is pressure on all aspects of care for the older persons – be it financial, health or shelter. With the onset of the 21st century, the growing security of older persons in India is very visible.
NGO HelpAge India felt the urgency to take up the issue of Elder Abuse in the country to create awareness and advocate various measures that can be taken up ensure the safety and security of the older persons; hence, the need for a study to understand the prevalence and extent of abuse across cities, perception of abuse among elderly, reporting behaviour and reasons behind it.
The study outcome is expected to help the HelpAge in having an effective mechanism in place to address the issue of Elder Abuse. HelpAge India has been conducting similar surveys for the past several years. This year’s survey (2018) on Elder Abuse was conducted in 23 cities of India by interviewing elderly above 60 years of age.
This study was aimed at to understand the spread, type and extent of Elder Abuse in India, Impact of Social Media & Technology, and Awareness of elders on Redressal Measures in Tier-1 & Tier-2 cities across 23 States/ UTs in India.
The target group included male and female elder aged 60 years and above.
The study covered 5014 elders across 23 cities. Of which, more than 70% aged 60-69 years with an almost equal distribution of both genders.
Around 60% of elders confirmed that Elder Abuse is prevalent in our society. Of those, who reported prevalence, 88% of them believed its existence is high. Nearly one-fourth (25%) elders have confirmed they have been a victim of Elder Abuse ever with no gender variation.
The most common form of abuse they experienced was disrespect (56%), verbal abuse (49%) and neglect (33%). The main abusers were Son (57%) and Daughter-in-law (38%). Only 18% of elders have confirmed that they have made an attempt to report abuse. And, only 35% of the total reporting was successfully resolved.
Around 11% were aware of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (MWPSC) Act, while 5% were aware of HelpAge Elder Helpline number. More than 60% elderly agreed that quality time spent by their adult children as well grandchildren with them has decreased with an increase in the usage of phones/computers. 65% elderly stated that extreme attention given to phones/ computers is disrespectful. Thus, action needs to be taken against situations which make life difficult for the elderly.
Social security of the elderly should be taken care of, they should be given opportunities for income generation, programmes to sensitize children and young adults and involvement of society at large against Elder Abuse should be initiated.
5014 elders were approached across 23 cities for an interview.
· Nearly one-fourth (25%) elders have confirmed they have been a victim of Elder Abuse. There was almost no distinction between male and female elders.
· Elder Abuse was reported maximum in Mangalore, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Amritsar, Delhi and Kanpur. It was least in Jammu, Mumbai, Vizag, Kochi, and Guwahati.
· The most common form of abuse they experienced was Disrespect (56%), Verbal Abuse (49%) and Neglect (33%). They had been facing this for the past 5 years.
· The main abusers were Son (52%) and Daughter-in-law (34%).
· The median age of abuser is 42 years.
· 82% of those abused, did not report the matter.
· The key reasons for Not Reporting - were to “maintain confidentiality (52%) of the family matter” or “did not know how to deal with the problem (34%)”.
· At the national level, 41% of the elderly are aware of at least one redressal mechanism.
· Around 35% of the elders were aware of police helpline, 11% were aware of MWPSC act while 5% were aware of HelpAge helpline number.
· More than 60% elderly agreed that quality time spent by their adult children as well grandchildren with them has decreased with an increase in the usage of phones/computers.
· 65% elderly stated that extreme attention given to phones/ computers is disrespectful.
· At the national level, 69% of the elderly have a house in their own name, 7% have a house in the spouse’s name, 3% are living with others and 20% are living on rent.
· At the national level, 85% of the elderly are living with family, 8% are living with spouse only, 6% are living alone and 2% are living with relatives.
India is undergoing a demographic transition! While 8 percent of its population was recorded 60 years and above in 2011 Census, it is expected to increase its share to 12.5 percent and 20 percent by 2026 and 2050 respectively.
However, this is not without problems. With this kind of an aging scenario, there is pressure on all aspects of care for the older persons – be it financial, health or shelter. With the onset of the twenty-first century, the growing security of older persons in India is very visible. Older people are living longer, households are getting smaller and congested, causing stress in joint and extended families.
Even where they are co-residing marginalization, isolation and insecurity is felt among older persons due to the generation gap and change in lifestyles. Increase in lifespan also results in chronic functional disabilities creating a need for assistance required by the older person to manage chores as simple as the activities of daily living.
With the traditional system of the lady of the house looking after the older family members at home is slowly changing, as the women at home are also participating in activities outside the home and have their own career ambitions, there is a growing realization among older persons that they are more often than not being perceived by their children as a burden.
Why Elder Abuse is concerning? Old Age has never been a problem for India where a value-based, the joint family system is supposed to prevail. Indian culture is automatically respectful and supportive of elders. With that background, Elder Abuse has never been considered as a problem in India and has always been thought of as a western problem.
India will have around one-fifth of its total population aged 60 years and above by 2050 As per Census 2011, the population of elders, people (aged 60 +) was around 8% of the total population Continuous improvement in health systems in the country y has led to an increased life expectancy rate, As a result, the share of elders in the total population has been on the rise post 2011.
According to estimates, elders will constitute around 1/5th of the population by 2050 and grow even steeper thereafter while abuse against elderly remains a concern, their growing population will increase its magnitude.
This research is expected to provide fresh estimate one of the important areas of inquiry in this research was to ascertain the extent to which elders understand what amounts to Elder Abuse, its different forms, which type of abuse is more prevalent at the society level at large, etc. In order to engage and seek the greater participation of elders, direct questioning on abuse was avoided at the beginning of the interview. Instead, questions were addressed at a societal level so that elders feel comfortable and openly share their experiences, thereby, increasing the reliability of responses.
Most elders (at the national level) believe disrespect (51%), verbal abuse (42%), being neglect (32%), and amount most to the abuse. Though, one-fourth affirmed economic exploitation inter alia. The extreme form of abuse such as beating/slapping (20%) and unwelcome or forcible sexual contact (6%), were also existent in the society as opined by elders.
The opinion was similar when compared across different categories like tier, gender, age group, marital status etc.
Perception on what amounts to Elder Abuse – National Level Qualitative interactions revealed that elders’ perception about abuse was based on their experiences gathered through general observation in their community and discussion among peer/ colleague/friend/ neighbor, newspaper reading, media, etc.
the incidence of elder abuse and the perception around it Elder Abuse e the city-wise trend largely rhymes with national trend, but few cities exhibit slightly different patterns as given below: · High reporting of abuse: Delhi, Faridabad, Kanpur, Amritsar, Chennai, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Guwahati · Low reporting of abuse: Dehradun, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Jammu, Vizag and Patna. · In Dehradun, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Vizag and Mumbai, more than one-fourth elders could not articulate and say what amounts to abuse.
This phenomenon was more among elders aged 80 years and above.
· Delhi, Faridabad, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Nagpur reported the relatively high frequency of beating /slapping.
· Amritsar, Kanpur, Delhi reported more frequency of unwelcome or forcible sexual contact.
Victims of Elder Abuse At the national level, 25% of elders have confirmed they have been a victim of Elder Abuse ever.
Elder Abuse was reported maximum in Mangalore, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Amritsar, Delhi and Kanpur. It was least a concern in Jammu, Mumbai, Vizag, Kochi, and Guwahati. When compared age-group wise, data analysis shows the reporting of abuse was more (27%) among 60-69-year-old elders than elders aged 70-79 years (22%) and elders aged 80 years and above (18%).
Similarly, there is hardly any difference in trend when personal abuse data were disaggregated by living arrangement. Those living with family or relative was facing the same issue as those living alone.
The study also dealt with the awareness about different reporting and redressal mechanisms, sources of awareness, the experience of availing benefits under Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (MWPSC) Act, affordability and accessibility of benefits under MWPSC Act and perception about MWPSC Act.
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