Violence against elderly in Brazil multifaceted, survey shows
Abandonment and neglect are commonplace in the life experiences recounted by elderly people in Brazil. Data raised by the Ministry of Human Rights on the first five months of 2023 show 37,441 cases of negligence, 19,987 of abandonment, 129,501 of physical violence, 120,351 of psychological violence, and 15,211 of financial violence—all of them up from the same span last year. The figures were collected through the Disque 100 initiative, with complaints made through phone calls, e-mails, and social media.
National Secretary for the Human Rights of the Elderly Alexandre da Silva argues that the numbers had been underreported, and that the increase in cases could indicate more confidence in the institutions. “One of our goals this month, dedicated to tackling violence against the elderly, is spreading the word about Disque 100.”
The data reveal that the age at which violence usually starts is 60, Silva pointed out. “Several scenarios can cause this type of violence, from family environments to the institutions themselves. Our priority is to remove elderly people from such circumstances,” he remarked.
Pandemic
One of the main Brazilian researchers on the subject, physician and gerontologist Alexandre Kalache said that the pandemic laid bare the various types of violence facing the elderly. “In a perverse way, the pandemic showed us that the country needs to take giant steps to fight ageism—the prejudice against the elderly.”
Dr. Kalache, who is also the president of the International Longevity Center Brazil and co-director of the Boston-based Age Friendly Institute, underscores the low number of effective public policies to protect this portion of the population in the last years.
He pointed out that Brazil will be one of the three fastest-aging nations by 2050. China and Thailand are among the countries that also need further organization to provide dignity to a constantly growing age group. A survey by Brazil’s statistics bureau IBGE shows that Brazilians aged 60 and older add up to over 31.23 million.
“We wasted a lot of time. How can you explain that a country with three percent of the world’s population accounts for 11 percent of COVID-19 deaths? The neglect was really appalling, as the main victims of the pandemic were elderly people,” he affirmed.
Moreover, the most common victims were among the disenfranchised. “These are people living in the favelas, riverside villages, and quilombos [communities originally founded by black people fleeing slavery], as well as black and indigenous people. Vulnerability in Brazil is deeply rooted in social inequality. You become an elderly person not because you have lived a certain number of years, but because you develop comorbidities.”
Solutions must include educational initiatives, he argued. “We must understand that this violence often starts small—a nickname, or their money being misused. Also common are physical, psychological, and sexual aggression, couples with an increase in property-based violence.”
The government, he added, is expected to unveil a series of initiatives to minimize violence and step up collaboration with states and city authorities.
