There is a ‘secret-cult’ silence on the issue of abuse of the elderly in Nigeria, argues the author of this paper. The victims of abuse and others are reluctant to talk about it, and there is constant denial by victims and abusers. Acts of abuse are usually regarded as normal behaviour within society. What can ordinary Nigerians, the government, families and communities do to assist the abused and abusers in prevention and intervention strategies that will benefit the elderly in Nigeria?
This paper looks at definitions of abuse under the following headings: physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, neglect and abandonment, financial abuse, societal/cultural abuse, and structural/institutional abuse.
Some of the areas highlighed include:
- problems in the classification of abuse: what can be termed or described as elder abuse in countries in Europe and America might not be so in Africa or Asia. For example, the institutionalisation of the elderly – in many Western countries it is not considered abuse when a member of a family takes an elderly member to an old peoples’ home or a facility for old people where care is given. However, it is generally considered a taboo in Nigeria
- negative attitude of workers in health institutions especially health centres in the rural areas sometimes constitute institutional neglect. Elderly patients who need urgent attention are neglected “because they are suffering from old age sickness”. The belief of health workers in rural centres is that it is better to attend to the younger ones at the expense of the older persons because the former has hope but the latter has reached the zenith of their lives
- sexual abuse, the author argues, is not that common in Nigeria but when it occurs it is seldom reported. Most cases are ritual – related
- women, who live alone, especially in isolated buildings, can be labeled witches and any negative occurrence in the neighbourhood such as the death of young ones or epidemics are sometimes believed to be as a result of their witchcraft practices
- cultural abuse can includes the older person being forbidden to speak his/her own language, or to wear traditional clothes
Recommendations include:
- a national policy on the care and welfare of the elderly with sections on elder abuse should be put in place with local state and Federal Governments enacting laws to suit the diversity of the cultural background in the country
- the public should be educated and a campaign to abolish the various stereotypes and prejudices should be undertaken, in order to promote that the elderly constitute a positive force in society
- training those with the responsibility of providing professional healthcare and social services both in the community and in institutional settings, and training the elderly to know what to do in case of a threat or actual cases of abuse
- the pension system should be structured to be of greater benefit to the elderly. The country should have a system that pays adequate and regular pensions