Financial Abuse of the Elderly: Strategies of Empowerment

In October 2018, a UK Member of Parliament, Giles Watling, used his maiden speech to highlight the issue of elder abuse in the UK. Although imperfectly and inconsistently defined, elder abuse is commonly referred to as “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust” which results in “harm or distress” to an older person. It is, Watling noted, a widespread yet “poorly understood” crime which deserves to dominate political discourse but which is too often overlooked, the result being Parliament’s “marginalising [of] a forgotten generation.” Elder abuse is also a human rights violation, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and All Parliamentary Group on Aging and Older People respectively identifying “serious” and “systemic” threats to the human rights of older people as a result. The UK House of Commons Health Committee reported on elder abuse in 2004, expressing concern at the “refusal of professional bodies and society overall to acknowledge the extent of the problem”. Importantly, in Europe and worldwide, states have been slow to respond to elder financial abuse, which is perceived as an increasingly pressing issue.