WHY IS ELDER & DISABLED ABUSE RARELY REPORTED TO AUTHORITIES?

  WHY IS ELDER ABUSE RARELY REPORTED TO AUTHORITIES?

                    

                          Fear

1. Fear of retaliation by the abuser

2. Fear of not being believed

3. Fear of being institutionalized

4. Fear of being separated from family and
familiar things

5. Fear of the criminal justice system

6. Fear of loneliness

7. Fear of retaliation by staff

                  Protect the abuser

Daycare employees and other clients are often the abusers, and because of the guilt and shame of being abused the abuse is not reported.

                     Social isolation

An isolated elderly or disabled victim may not know how or where to seek help. Older or disabled adults often live alone, or with family members and don’t interact with others in the community so abuser manipulate them.

          Self-blame and/or denial

Many victims do not seek help because they either blame themselves for the abuse, or they tolerate and accept the abuse because they are intimated by the abuser. They blame themselves for what happened to them.

                   Inability to report

Mental impairments: dementia, or Alzheimer’s disease, cause memory loss, and in the later stages of these illnesses people lose the ability to communicate effectively.