Slight rise in elderly abuse cases, family members usually to blame

There was a slight rise in the number of reports of physical, mental and financial abuse of the elderly last year, according to new figures from the monitoring body LPBO.

In total, there were 1,027 abuse reports. In 35% of cases a child or grandchild was the abuser but in a quarter of cases it was another family member. Partners and ex-partners are also responsible for around a quarter of cases.

Registered carers and volunteers were involved in just a tiny fraction of the reports – 0.2%.

Over a third of the reports concerned mental abuse while physical abuse accounted for almost three in 10 cases. In 20% of cases the elderly were being financially exploited.

The figures will be discussed at a conference on the abuse of the elderly in The Hague on Thursday.

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