MUMBAI: A Parsi family rues how they had failed to recognise the warning signs when their 90-year-old unmarried aunt living alone in a south Mumbai apartment had first complained about being bullied by her otherwise genial live-in maid a few months ago. “It came as a surprise because she was usually quite polite and respectful in front of visitors. Given how seniors can sometimes be chronic complainers and undergo difficult mood swings, we decided to not let the maid go,” said her nephew.
Persistent complaints of distress including scratch marks on her back and bruises around her genital area raised the red flags that eventually pushed the family to wake up to “unprecedented levels” of elder abuse, expel the maid and seek appropriate care.
While these are not stray incidents anymore, evidence from Helpage India’s latest report ‘Bridge the Gap: Understanding Elder Needs’ that was released ahead of the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, show age and geriatric debilitation make them soft targets of emotional, physical and social abuse that could range from physical assault to neglect, food refusal to financial deprivation, and insult to separation from family.
As head of HelpAge India in Maharashtra and Goa that specialises in elder care, these are frightening stories that Prakash Borgaonkar encounters frequently be it at home, in the streets, or old-age homes. Compared to the national average of 59% elders who agreed elder abuse was rampant, in Mumbai 67% of the elderly surveyed said it is prevalent and that the “biggest” perpetrators were their sons and daughters-in-law. However, a troubling proportion of those surveyed don’t actually see themselves as abused or recognise harmful behaviour as abuse. Only 9% saw themselves as victims.
The dip-stick study based on a sample size of 4,399 elder respondents across 22 cities to understand “the overarching gaps in income, employment, health, safety and social and digital inclusion of elderly” revealed another significant problem that regrettably slips under the radar too often. According to the findings, 71% of the elders were not working although 36% elders were willing to work and 40% of them want to work “as long as possible”. In Mumbai where 300 individuals across four wards were surveyed, the number of elders not working was 79% even as 37% said they had access to employment opportunities while 26% were willing to work after their retirement.
While 70% of Mumbai’s elders felt financially secure and 58% said their income was adequate compared to the national statistics of 52% elders reporting inadequate income, dearth of employment opportunities along with increase in life expectancy, and rising medical expenses were leading causes for decline in the financial abilities of India’s elder population who rely on personal savings for their post-retirement living expenses.
Sitting ramrod straight, Gita Parkar (64) who retired as a primary school teacher four years ago, points at her hands and feet to illustrate why she isn’t so different from her younger counterparts. “I’m a divorcee living with my daughter, a software engineer, who lost her job in the pandemic. To stay afloat we’ve set up a snack stall but why should I be deprived the security of a job and a sense of purpose just because I’m past retirement age?” she asked. “The average life expectancy has gone up to 70 years of age but if they’re made to retire at 60, how do they survive? Elders today don’t want to be looked at through the lens of sympathy and dependency,” said Borgaonkar, stressing on the need to extend mandatory retirement age.
