Elderly assured ‘You are not alone’

POLICE hope to tackle the rising problem of abuse of the elderly.
Police launched the ‘You are not alone’ campaign last week to coincide with Victoria Seniors Week.
Though assaults on elderly made up only 3.2 per cent of all assaults across the state in 2008-2009, the figures showed that a family member committed almost half of the assaults on females aged 60 and over.
There was also a 34.5 per cent rise in family incidents involving females aged 60 and over, with the number of assaults committed on elderly women by a family member jumping from 145 to 195 cases in the past financial year.
Assaults on people aged 60 and over totalled 1090 incidents last financial year, compared to 944 from the previous year.
Region 5 Crime Prevention Officer Senior Constable Eddy MacDonald said he feared many family violence incidents with senior members of the family were going unreported.
“Abuse can happen in a number of settings and a lot of the time it is not just physical abuse. It can be psychological and/or financial and often the abuse is perpetrated by a family member or carer,” he said.
“A common example may be a grandchild pressuring their grandmother for money in an abusive, violent and intimidating way.”
Sen Const MacDonald said he wanted to reassure the elderly that they were safe and supported by police to report crime.
More than 15,000 postcards will be delivered across the state to senior Victorians through Meals on Wheels as part of the “You Are Not Alone” campaign to help reach the most socially isolated Victorians.
The postcard, which includes personal safety tips and space to write a police station number, is designed to encourage senior Victorians to contact police when they feel at risk, or threatened or find themselves in an unsafe situation.
An additional 35,000 postcards and 30,000 posters will be distributed through other avenues, including through health services, Victoria Police Crime Prevention Officers and seminars conducted by the Department of Human Services.