June 15: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Every year, the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is celebrated on June 15 by the United Nations. The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the neglect and abuse of older persons. It also raises awareness of social, cultural, economic and demographic processes that has impacts on elder neglect and abuse.

This year the day is marked under the theme

Theme: Lifting up Voices

Highlights

The World Elder Abuse Awareness is being marked every year after the request made by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse along with the World Health Organization at the United Nations. This year the world organization has launched a campaign

“Safeguard older persons during COVID-19 and beyond”.

Background

According to the United Nations, the number of persons that are aged above 60 years have grown by 38% between 2019 and 2030. During this time, they have globally outnumbered the youths reaching 1.4 billion in population.

Elder Abuse prevails in both developing and developed countries. The prevalence rates of elder abuse have been estimated only in developed countries.

COVID-19

In the current situation, though people of all age groups face the risk of COVID-19, the risks of older persons are higher. According to the United Nations, around 66% of old age people are placed under the risk of COVID-19.


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1 Comment

  1. Dr.Cajetan Coelho

    June 20, 2020 at 1:19 pm

    Elderly People – they are our Wisdom Banks. They have spent their precious lives in the service of our Planet.

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