Going public about a potential case of elder abuse is still a rare event, but seniors advocates are working hard to rectify that.
Saturday was World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, as proclaimed by the United Nations in 2006, as a way to bring about recognition of abuse and neglect of older adults.
Locally, the Prince George Council of Seniors will be set up at the Pine Centre Mall today and Saturday, passing out symbolic purple ribbons.
"We're not as aware as we should be," said council manager Lola-Dawn Fennell, citing challenges coming from a lack of specificity in the Canadian Criminal Code to deal with the problems as well as a reluctance from the victims to come forward.
"We have a generation of elders who were raised to keep a stiff upper lip and carry on," she said. "It's not something easily talked about."
At the end of 2012, the federal government passed the Protecting Canada's Seniors Act, amending the Criminal Code to add language emphasizing vulnerability due to age as an aggravating circumstance for sentencing purposes.
But according to Martha Jane Lewis, executive director of the B.C. Centre for Elder Advocacy Support, judges already take the vulnerability of victims into account, so the legislation doesn't add much, nor would having a dedicated offense to crimes against the aged.
"Very few people read the Criminal Code and decide what crime to commit," Lewis said.
Earlier this year, the provincial government launched its elder abuse strategy, which included expanding the hours of the centre's seniors abuse and information line and establishing a multi-sector council to reduce elder abuse.
The crimes that fall under the umbrella of elder abuse range from physical to financial to emotional.
According to Statistics Canada, seniors were most at risk of physical violence from friends or acquaintances, followed by family members, then from strangers. A 2010 report said grown children were most often identified as the perpetrator of family violence against seniors.
In 2009, statistics show that less than half of all violent incidents involving older Canadians were brought to the attention of the police.
Older, isolated people are especially more susceptible to fraud and scams.
"They are targeted. They tend to have savings and they do open their junk mail and read it and respond to it," said Lewis. "Someone who doesn't get any other mail or is isolated, it's probably the most exciting thing going for them."
Other, unintentional, practices can fall under the spectrum, such as infantilizing older people as they lose some of their independence or misunderstanding and misusing responsibilities like power of attorney.
The Prince George Council of Seniors provides workshops on elder abuse to those who request them and also have information available at their Victoria Street resource centre.
Northern Health has an adult protection line at 250-565-7414 and Prince George Community Policing (250-561-3366) also has programming to help combat elder abuse. AimHi is also part of the province's Community Response Network, a group of community, social and health service organizations, government agencies, businesses and individuals working to help abused and neglected adults find support.
"It's important to get that information out there, not just for elders but also for everyone of every age to be aware that it happens," said Fennell. "We like to think that we treat our elders respectfully and unfortunately that's not the case... We need people to know and know that it's not OK and it needs to be addressed."
