Saturday, 24 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN 

HelpAge India revealed in its recent report that an average of 68 per cent of elderly women worry about getting physically harmed in the two districts of the State- Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar. Recently the organisation released a national report ‘Women and Ageing: Invisible or Empowered’ on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. According to the report, 50 per cent of elderly women in Udham Singh Nagar and nine per cent in Haridwar reported abuse by their daughter in-law.

The State programme manager of HelpAge India Krishna Avtar said that the organisation recently conducted a survey at Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar regarding elder abuse. He stated that various aspects concerning elder abuse have come to light. The survey concludes that older women face the gender inequality gap and are prone to be neglected most of the time from their children, he added.

Neuropsychologist Dr Sona Kaushal Gupta told this correspondent, “Elderly people especially women face both physical and emotional abuse. As compared to elderly men, women suffer from a more abusive nature of their children. Lack of financial independence can be the main reason for elder abuse. Apart from this, elderly women are vulnerable which gives a chance to their children to manipulate them easily. Concerning such cases I would request the people and the NGOs to take strict action.”