Ahmedabad 2nd among 23 cities in abuse of elderly: Study
Interestingly, sons, in Ahmedabad, turned out to be biggest abusers of elderly while the daughters-in-law came a distinct second
Amdavadis apparently aren't very kind to the elderly. Ahmedabad came second when it came to abusing the elders, a survey carried out across 23 cities in the country said on Thursday.
The survey titled 'Elder Abuse In India 2018' found that 46% of the elders surveyed in Ahmedabad said that they had been abused. The top slot when to Mangalore where 47% of surveyed adults said they were abused.
Interestingly, sons, in Ahmedabad, turned out to be biggest abusers of elderly while the daughters-in-law came a distinct second. 47% of the respondents named their sons as abusers followed by 26% who said the daughter-in-law was the main abuser. Interestingly, none of the respondents named their sons-in-law or daughters abusers.
"The results are different from what we got in last year's survey in which we had surveyed the attitudes of youth. A majority said they believed the daughters-in-law to be the main abuser. This survey of the elderly themselves reveal an entirely different picture," said ANIL KUMAR MASSEY, joint director and state head, HelpAge India,
He said abuse of elderly was widespread, but the instances of it being reported was low. "As has been revealed in the survey in Ahmedabad alone, 53% of the elderly did not report the abuse to maintain privacy of the family while 28% did not know how to deal with the problem," said Massey.
The elderly also reported feeling of neglect with 74% saying that adult children were too busy with phone even when they were home. The survey covered 218 elderly in the city for quantitative interview and 10 for qualitative ones. Majority of the elderly felt that they were at the receiving end because of their age-related problems and the people they were dependent on thought of them as burden.
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- Interestingly, sons, in Ahmedabad, turned out to be biggest abusers of elderly while the daughters-in-law came a distinct second.
- 47% respondents named their sons as abusers followed by 26% who said the daughter-in-law was the main abuser.