More cases of elder abuse reported in the country
Marie Beaulieu finds that reported cases of elder abuse are on the rise in the country.
Assault, sexual assault, robbery: reports of elder abuse are on the rise in the country, reports a study by Statistics Canada.
According to the social gerontologist and professor at the #x27;Université de Sherbrooke Marie Beaulieu, this observation, although alarming, does not necessarily mean that cases of elder abuse are more frequent in Canada.
Of course, there is a striking number when we are told that there has been a 22% increase in 10 years in reporting elder abuse cases to the police. It's interesting, but at the same time, every time we do abuse awareness campaigns, it works. People recognize situations and start calling different services, including the police, observes the specialist.
“Is there really a rise in elder abuse or is there not more of a big awareness going on? […] If that's it, we've won something. »
— Marie Beaulieu, social gerontologist and professor at the University of Sherbrooke
The professor also wanted to clarify the data collection method used by the researchers behind the study. This report is based on statistics produced by the police, therefore only on declared cases. Additionally, they tried to combine the study with a general social survey. People get called and can report situations they've been through, whether they've been reported to the police or not, she explains.
This study also focused on the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore possible that the situation has changed a lot during the pandemic years. There are studies that are being done right now to better understand the effects of the pandemic, among other things during periods when we have been under house arrest. In those times, we may have forced people to live together 24 hours a day and we may have concerns. […] Perhaps that could have exacerbated situations of tension, situations of mistreatment, adds Marie Beaulieu.
“There is there have been many attempts to defraud seniors. […] We have seen an upsurge, at least on the financial level. »
— Marie Beaulieu, social gerontologist and professor at the University of Sherbrooke
She therefore wonders whether the same kind of phenomenon has been observed physically or psychologically. Of course emotional abuse, which is normally the most common form of abuse, will not be reported to the police. We won't find it in the reports. We will have to look for this data otherwise, concludes the social gerontologist.
