24 Hour Domestic Violence Help-line

As part of its commitment to tackling elder abuse, Comic Relief with the Department of Health funded a UK wide prevalence study on the abuse and neglect of older people which was launched and published in June 2007.  The findings included the experience of elders being abused by thier partners

'Partners (51%) and other family members (49%) were most commonly reported as the perpetrators of mistreatment.'

The report also states:

'Interpersonal abuse was largely carried out by partners (57%) or other family members (37%). The perpetrator lived in the same household in two-thirds of the cases, and in two-fifths of cases the older person was providing care for them. 75% of perpetrators of interpersonal abuse were aged 65-74 and 80% of them were men. The implication, allied with the data on living arrangements, is that they are either experiencing domestic violence in later life, or that they have a condition, for example dementia, that sometimes gives rise to aggressive or challenging behaviour – or both.'

 To download a full copy of the report go to the comic relief website and the link to the right of this page.  1