28% elderly women of Chandigarh face physical abuse, finds latest survey

The survey revealed that despite facing abuse, 18 per cent elderly women do not report the incidents due to “fear of retaliation or further abuse”. At least 17 per cent of abused women have no awareness of available resources while 20 per cent think their concerns would not be taken seriously, the survey stated.

At least 26 per cent of the surveyed elderly women are worried about getting physically harmed, 69 per cent have “fear of falling” and 56 per cent are worried about getting hurt due to their weak eyesight. The survey said that 25 per cent elderly women lack awareness on redressal mechanisms available to deal with any form of abuse. It also showed that only three per cent is aware of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act and 98 per cent of them are not aware of any government welfare schemes.

Their social status only added to their woes, with 7 per cent of elderly women stating to have faced discrimination due to their gender and 17 per cent having faced social discrimination due to their marital status, i.e. widowed.

On the economic front, 33 per cent of the elderly women do not feel financially secure and 67 per cent ‘do’ feel secure. As much as 76 per cent are dependent on their children for finances, 69 per cent elderly women in Chandigarh don’t own any assets and 76 per cent do not have any savings, the survey added.

As far as digital inclusion is concerned, the surveyed women are far behind, with 72 per cent of them never having used digital devices, 51 per cent not owning smartphones and only 2 per cent elderly women saying that they would like to enrol for some skill development programme online.

Bhavneshwar Sharma, state head, Chandigarh, HelpAge India, said, “The survey was conducted between 2022-23. This year our focus was on the elderly women. We collected around 280 samples (old age women) from Chandigarh in the survey. We collected the samples from across the sections.”

Sharma added, “Women residing in posh areas, middle income areas and slum areas were part of the survey. Our survey was independent. We assessed that females are at social, economic and educational disadvantage from an early age, this impacts their lives in old age in unimaginable ways. They seldom make choices about their lives and despite all the good intent, they remain secondary in almost all aspects of life. As much as 79 per cent of the elderly women have reported being ‘never’ employed, while 32 per cent want to work as long as possible, but where are the opportunities?”

“This can be interpreted to mean low or no social security in old age. We released the survey ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day which will be observed on June 15,” Sharma said.

Senior citizen body backs the survey

Second Innings, an association working for senior citizens, has backed the findings and urged UT Administration to address the issues related to senior citiznes urgently. R K Gard, the patron of Second Innings, says, “At least 330 complaints moved by the senior citizens, including women, under the Senior Citizen Act were pending in DC office. Though survey suggests aged people are being harassed by their sons, we have come across many cases wherein daughters are harassing their parents.”
Crime against seniors on decline: NCRB

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its report released in 2021 stated that the crime against senior citizens has decreased. However, it raised concern over the increasing online cheating, forgery cases with the senior citiznes as most of them were not up to date with the cyber technologies.