New Taipei City is looking to promote self-protection awareness among elderly people, as the number of domestic abuse cases among those aged 65 or older has risen by 78 percent over the past six years, but most refuse to press charges, as the abusers are their partners or their descendants.
The New Taipei City Department of Social Welfare’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Crime Prevention Center on June 5 said that the rates of domestic abuse among elderly people have been growing over the past six years, from 1,834 reports in 2019 to 3,276 last year.
The increase was due to an aging population, a shift in family structural makeup, and elderly people’s increasing dependency on long-term care and on their children, the department said.
Photo: CNA
Majority of the incidents reported involved physical and mental abuse, remiss in elderly care and attempting to control elderly people financially, it said, adding that abusers usually have a criminal history of drug abuse, fraud, gambling addictions or violent crimes.
Most elderly people refuse to report the incidents, as they believe that one should not “air one’s dirty laundry in public,” or are worried that if their progeny would go to jail, the center said.
They are also worried that if they report the incidents, their children would refuse to take care of them, it added.
As a result, most elderly people who experience domestic abuse say that they were injured in accidents, refuse the assistance of social workers or other people and do not want restraining orders, the center said.
A source in the New Taipei City Government cited New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) as saying that there were 780,000 elderly people in the city and that they must be adequately protected.
“We cannot dismiss the issues by taking the comments of elderly people at their word,” the source quoted Hou saying.
The center said that it would continue to collaborate with borough wardens, community volunteers and police to establish a mutual care network to support victims.
The New Taipei City Police Department said officers who are alerted to possible domestic abuse should report the incidents.
The department is to work with social welfare units to arrange visits if they find that alleged abusers have a history of violence or are disadvantaged, it added.
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