Category: family violence

Over half a million older people experienced abuse in the last year

Latest data released by the Australian Institute of Health & Welfarehttps://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/older-people#:~:text=In%20institutional%20settings%2C%20Yon%20et,and%20sexual%20abuse%20(1.9%25). (AIHW) has made some key findings that show people in Australia are at increased risk of abuse in their later years. This abuse can take many forms, including psychological or emotional abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.

Key findings of the most recent data:

  • 1 in 6 (15% or 598,000) people in Australia experienced elder abuse in the past year.
  • psychological abuse is the most common form of elder abuse.
  • 1 in 2 people who perpetrate elder abuse are a family member.
  • 1 in 3 people who experienced elder abuse sought help from a third party.

As Australia’s population ages, the number of older people in Australia experiencing abuse is likely to increase over time.  A key aspect of the definition is that elder abuse occurs in relationships where there is “an expectation of trust”. Such relationships include those with family members, friends, neighbours, and some professionals such as paid carers.

Prevalence estimates are likely to underestimate the true extent of elder abuse. This is because victim-survivors can be reluctant to disclose ill-treatment by a family member, or because they are dependent on the abuser for care. Older people with cognitive impairment (for example, dementia) or other forms of disability may also be unable to report abuse.

Evidence from international studies show that abuse estimates are higher for older people in institutional settings than in the community.  A 2017 review found that there is a greater likelihood for women being abused (17%) than men (11%) with sons also more likely to perpetrate abuse than daughters.

What kind of abuse is perpetrated?

The AIFS National Elder Abuse Prevalence Studyhttps://aifs.gov.au/research/research-reports/national-elder-abuse-prevalence-study-final-report estimated that, in 2020:

  • around 1 in 6 (598,000 or 15%) older people living in the community had experienced elder abuse in the past year
  • 471,300 (12%) had experienced psychological abuse in the past year
  • 115,500 (2.9%) had experienced neglect in the past year
  • 83,800 (2.1%) had experienced financial abuse in the past year
  • 71,900 (1.8%) had experienced physical abuse in the past year
  • 39,500 (1.0%) had experienced sexual abuse in the past year
  • a slightly higher percentage of women than men had experienced any form of elder abuse in the past year. This pattern was also evident for psychological abuse and neglect.

Who are the perpetrators?

Around 1 in 2 (53%) perpetrators of elder abuse were family members (includes ex-partner/spouses). Perpetration by family members was highest for financial abuse (64%) then neglect (60%), psychological abuse (55%), physical abuse (50%) and sexual abuse (15%). Sexual abuse of older people was primarily perpetrated by friends (42%), acquaintances (13%) and neighbours (9%).

Support for abused persons

The AIFS study estimated that:

  • 1 in 3 (36%) older people in Australia who experienced abuse sought help or advice from a third party such as a family member, friend or professional;
  • help seeking was most common after physical abuse, followed by psychological abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse and then neglect;
  • of those seeking help, the most common sources of help were family members (41%) and friends (41%), followed by a GP or nurse (29%), a professional carer (24%), the police (17%) and lawyers (15%). Around 1 in 20 (5.3%) contacted a helpline.

Around 8 in 10 (82%) older people who experienced abuse had taken action to stop the abuse from happening again. These actions included informal actions (such as speaking to the person) and formal actions (such as seeking legal advice). The most common actions were speaking to the person or breaking contact with them.

If you, or someone you know has been abused, you can call 1800 ELDERHelp.

 

 

Sexual assaults increase during pandemic lockdown

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has released its statistics for the second quarter ending June 2020 which showed that recorded incidents of break ins, car theft and retail theft were significantly interrupted by the pandemic response.

The only major exception to the reduction in offences is reported sexual assaults which rose 9.4% year-on-year to June 2020, similar to the upward trend reported in the previous quarterly report.

Sexual assault increased in two of the 15 Sydney Statistical Areas:

Blacktown (up 24.4%, or 71 additional incidents)
Sutherland (up 59.2%, or 45 additional incidents)

Two Sydney regions had a significant increase in recorded rates of domestic assault in the past two years:
Baulkham Hills & Hawkesbury (up 32.7%, or 123 additional incidents),
Parramatta (up 9.9% or 175 additional incidents)

Regional NSW saw significant upward trends in recorded rates of sexual assault in three of the 13 statistical areas:
Hunter Valley excluding Newcastle (up 19.7% or 59 additional incidents),
Illawarra (up 33.7% or 66 additional incidents), and:
Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (up 63.9% or 62 additional incidents).

Domestic violence related assault increased in the Murray (up 25.1% or 127 additional incidents)

Commenting on the findings, Executive Director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald, said the continuing increase in reported sexual assaults was a worrying trend. “It appears that at least some of the increase in sexual assault is related to an increase in secondary and mandatory reporting of child sexual assault. We will continue to closely monitor trends in this offence.”

BOSCAR media release, 2/09/20: https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_media_releases/2020/mr-NSW-Recorded-Crime-Statistics-Quarterly-Update-June-2020-aspx.aspx

Australian women at greater risk during pandemic lockdown

Like the rest of the world, Australia is reporting a greater risk to women and children of experiencing violence during the global health pandemic.

Confirmation of the effect of government-directed restrictions that include stay-at-home orders, physical distancing, working at home and the closure of number of community services, has been explored in the results of two surveys of Queensland domestic violence practitioners.

The surveys were conducted by the Queensland Domestic Violence Services Network over two 10-day periods in April and May 2020 and surveyed the professional views of domestic violence support workers. The surveys found an increase in:
• client numbers;
• the complexity of client needs;
• in reported controlling behaviour and manipulation;
• reported perpetrator anger/violence allegedly due to reduced income or job loss due to COVID-19; and
• additional pressure and stress on practitioners as a result of the transition to remote work and increased service demand as indicated by increased reporting.

These findings were published in a Monash University report Responding to Queensland’s ‘shadow pandemic’ during the period of COVID-19 restrictions and mirror Victorian research published in June 2020. Publication of the report is intended to increase understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic restrictions on women’s experiences of gender-based violence and practitioners’ experiences supporting women.

In April 2020, the United Nations Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, labelled violence against women the ‘shadow pandemic’ (UN Women, 2020b), recognising the heightened risk to women and children to all forms of gender-based violence. It has been estimated that for every three months the enforced lockdown restrictions continue, an additional 15 million cases of domestic violence will occur worldwide. One of the ongoing issues is that while the risk to women increases while they are confined to their homes, their access to support is reduced.

Pfitzner, N., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Meyer, S., and True, J. (2020). Responding to Queensland’s ‘shadow pandemic’ during the period of COVID-19 restrictions: practitioner views on the nature of and responses to violence against women. Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
file:///I:/Writing/Qld%20Responding%20to%20the%20Shadow%20Pandemic%20Report%2030June20.pdf