Is it Gendered?

Gender 305 Gender and International Human Rights

When looking at these statistics, one is inclined to believe that all older adults are equally likely to experience some form of elder abuse, but that is unfortunately untrue. To fully understand the affected population, one must understand that women comprise 61% of the global population of 80 and over (World Population Aging, 2019). In most countries, this percentage increases with age; for example, in Canada, women make up 52% of seniors aged 65 to 74, 56% of seniors aged 75 to 84, and 68% aged 85 or older (Kembhavi, 2020). We will examine the subject of elder abuse through an intersectional feminist lens that aims to investigate the prevalence, the policy, and the discussion surrounding this complex subject. Our group chose this topic because we personally feel that elder abuse is an issue that is overshadowed within the realm of both national and international human rights discussions. When looked at through an intersectional feminist perspective, it becomes even clearer to us that older women are disproportionately more vulnerable to different kinds of elder abuse so this problem must not be addressed with gender-neutral language. Additionally, it must be said that elder abuse is mostly seen as an “invisible” problem which shouldn’t be the case. Older people, specifically those aged 65 years old and older, just in Canada alone, constitute almost 18.5% (based from collected data as of July 2021) of the total population in the country (Statistics Canada, 2022). When researched more thoroughly, elder abuse only becomes an “invisible” problem due to the stigma attached to reporting it (i.e., ageism) or the lack or incapability of the victims themselves to report the abuse (HealthLinkBC, 2022). In this episode, we explore who is affected by elder abuse and how race, gender, socioeconomic status, and ability contribute to elder abuse

Show notes:
Additional Resources:
I Care A Lot (2020) dir. J Blakeson
The Wolf at the Door: Undue Influence and Elder Financial Abuse (book) by Michael Hackard
Music:
● Intro music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay
● Music by YVHNII from Pixabay
● Music by NaturesEye from Pixabay

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