{"id":7152,"date":"2022-12-21T07:34:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T12:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=7152"},"modified":"2022-12-21T07:34:12","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T12:34:12","slug":"world-elder-abuse-awareness-day-its-a-thing-it-shouldnt-have-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2022\/12\/world-elder-abuse-awareness-day-its-a-thing-it-shouldnt-have-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: It\u2019s a Thing. It Shouldn\u2019t Have to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which was launched in 2006, falls on June 15. That happens to be my mother\u2019s birthday, which I find darkly amusing and which probably has something to do with my ambivalence around the event. It\u2019s terrific that World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is a thing. It\u2019s awful that it has to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every year an estimated one in 10 Americans over age 60\u2014over seven million people in the United States alone\u2014experiences some form of abuse. (This can take many forms\u2014financial, emotional, physical or sexual\u2014as well as exploitation and neglect.) Those numbers were undoubtedly worsened by extreme isolation during the main COVID-19 pandemic. We\u2019ve also seen a chilling increase in hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans, many of whom have been older.<\/span><\/p>\n

A staggering 95 percent of elder abuse cases go undetected. Nonetheless, unlike domestic violence or child abuse, we don\u2019t talk about it much. Neither do many victims, who are embarrassed by their vulnerability, ashamed to ask for help, and\u2014worst of all\u2014think they may not deserve it. Over half of abusers are family members, which doesn\u2019t make it legal but does make it harder to report.<\/span><\/p>\n

What else underlies these appalling statistics? Ignorance and aversion on the part of the general public. Raised to value youth and speed, we grossly underestimate the quality of life of older people, as well as its value. We project our fears. We turn away, reluctant to acknowledge that we too are aging and some impairment awaits us all. And when we see people as \u201cother\u201d than ourselves, their welfare seems less of a human right.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ageism (discrimination on the basis of age) is a new idea to lots of people. Many are even less familiar with ableism\u2014discrimination on the basis of how our brains or bodies function. Ageism and ableism underlie the belief that being nondisabled is \u201cnormal\u201d and that leading meaningful, desirable lives means staying youthful and disability-free. These prejudices inform and compound each other, the \u201cugly dance\u201d to which the title of my new talk refers, \u201cThe Ugly Dance: How Ageism and Ableism Enable Abuse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ageism and ableism stand between everyone\u2014especially the most vulnerable among us\u2014and the safe and comfortable old age we all deserve. We have the skills and the tools to disrupt this dance. In a world of longer lives, we can\u2019t afford not to. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which was launched in 2006, falls on June 15. That happens to be my mother\u2019s birthday, which I find darkly amusing and which probably has something to do with my ambivalence around the event. It\u2019s…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: It\u2019s a Thing. It Shouldn\u2019t Have to Be<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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