Abuse of elderly persons increased in 2018 – ChildLink

A study conducted by ChildLink in 2018 has found that abuse against the elderly has been on the increase. This was revealed on Tuesday evening at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown, when the findings from the survey were shared with the public.
Chairman of the advocacy group, Kosi John, who shared an overview of the report said, “as in those of the low-income group and also among the under aged and very young, abuse of elderly, women and children has been on the increase”.
John went further to say that urgent attention must be focused on the plight of the vulnerable group, who are often incapable of defending themselves and breaking out of the abusive environment.
The Chairman said he believes that abusive trends are linked to the fact that young people grow up seeing that someone should be hit when they do something that is not pleasing.

“Our young people are nurtured in the crucible of violence. They see in their homes and on the streets, parents hit out at each other in settling disputes and their children in disciplining them,” he said.
John added that the trend must be arrested immediately before it consumes the entire population.
He noted that while helping victims is important, this may very well not be enough. “We have discovered that helping victims of trauma to find the words to describe what has happened to them is profoundly meaningful, but usually is not enough. The act of telling the story does not necessarily alter the automatic physical and hormonal responses of bodies that remain hyper vigilant, prepared to be assaulted or violated at any time,” the Chairman explained.
For real change to occur, the head of the advocacy group believes that those victims must learn that danger has passed which will ultimately help them to live in the present.
A huge sensitisation operation he said will be required to help those victims. John stated, “A massive education campaign needs to be embarked upon to educate persons, particularly young people, that violent behaviour is wrong, unacceptable and a breach of one’s fundamental human rights”.
Religious and other leaders, he noted, will play a vital role in helping to achieve this objective.

A few months ago, the elderly parents of Ethnic Relations Commission, Commissioner Neaz Subhan were left traumatised after five bandits, two of whom were armed with handguns, broke into their home.
Meanwhile, after weeks of delay and professing his innocence, 26-year-old Kevon Alfred in February 2018 admitted to killing 75-year-old re-migrant Joyce Lewis at her home at Lot 3630 Christiani Street, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
State Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs told the court that Alfred was an unwanted guest, who had entered Lewis’s home, strangled her to death, robbed her home, and used her mobile phone to sell the items to a witness, who was set to testify.
Before sentencing him to 23 years in prison, Justice Singh told Alfred that even though he had pleaded guilty, he showed no sign of remorse.
According to reports, Lewis’s lifeless body was found in her home by Police and her sister, Veronica Deen, on the morning of March 26, 2014. She reportedly was also found with her underwear pulled to her ankles and dark marks around her neck.
Five months after Lewis was killed, Alfred was arrested and charged with the murder. Reports are that Alfred’s fingerprints were among several that detectives had found in the slain woman’s home.
On the other hand, the executives at the Georgetown Public Hospital and the Linden Hospital Complex has been complaining of the number of elderly persons being abandoned at the institution. This phenomenon has been linked to the fact that relatives of many elderly persons are unable to cope with the responsibility of taking care of them.