How To Report Crime Against The Elderly?

Often at times we come across routine crimes that we choose to stay silent about because of the complications it might add for us. Like witnessing someone shoplift, or someone bullying someone. Such crimes need to be reported to create a balanced law and order in the country, but mostly they go unnoticed.

But, there are people around us who can’t turn their heads to a crime happening. If they know a woman was harassed, they wouldn’t be afraid to publicly stand up for her, or if they overhear a conversation about robbing a store, they would be the first ones to report to the police.

Have you ever heard about crimes against the elderly? There are so many people around us who take the elderly for granted maybe because they’re physically weak and mentally slow. If you ever witness a crime against the elderly, would you report? I think you would. But how?

Let’s get into details about what elder abuse is and how to go about reporting it.

Elder Abuse

Seniors today are abused in so many ways, and it’s all the matter of looking around you and seeing how common it is. People take their state of mind for granted and manipulate or force them against their will. Here are the most common types of elder abuse that your seniors around you may silently be going through:

Physical Abuse: These include acts of physically harming an old person by hitting them or assaulting them causing injuries, impairment or even bruises. This also includes forcefully giving them drugs or substance against their will.

Emotional Abuse: Opting non-violent methods of threatening, yelling or blaming them for minute things. This ruins their mental health as they’re constantly the victim of psychological abuse. This also includes ignoring or neglecting them which takes a toll on their mental peace.

Sexual Abuse: Harassing or violating a senior’s privacy counts as sexual abuse. Even wanting to engage in sexual activity with a senior without their consent is abuse and lots of seniors go through this manipulation every day.

Financial Exploitation: This includes forcing them into giving out money for fake purposes, or manipulating them into handing out their fortune. There are so many examples of how they’re exploited financially.

Healthcare Abuse: All seniors need some kind of medicinal care when they reach a certain age, and often they are victims of healthcare abuse. Overcharging them for medicines, overmedicating or undermedicating them, giving them harmful drugs or recommending them harmful remedies for illnesses comes under healthcare abuse.

Elder Financial Exploitation

One of the major ways that the elderly are exploited is financially, and that too by their children or some other family member. They are taken for granted for their property of their fortune and are often made fools out of because they might not understand how the current world finances work.

Common examples of elder financial exploitation is investment fraud, often the elderly are fooled by strangers who promise them high investment returns and often the company turns out to be fake too. Moreover, they are also asked to pay for charities and donations to a non-existent organization, and it’s long enough until they realize they’ve been played with.

Often family members exploit their elders by repeatedly taking loans from them and never paying back, or simply taking their property because ‘they’re too old to retaliate’. Mostly children give away or sell elder’s possessions without their permission or even force them to sign on papers for property inheritance. If the parents are too rigid, children often forge signatures on documents to get what they want.

There are so many examples about financial crimes against the elderly, where their hard-earned money is being misused and often stolen from them. This is always the cause of seniors’ vulnerability, or simply their love and respect for their family members that they repeatedly choose to give in for the sake of their happiness.

Elder Financial Abuse Laws by State

States try their best to protect the rights of seniors from being misused at the hands of scammers by passing laws. According to the 2018 legislation, these are the bills passed that protect seniors from financial abuse.

Laws against taking advantage of the elderly:

Note: Sample data has been extracted online, courtesy of National Conference of State Legislatures.

Reporting Crime against the Elderly

Now that you know your state particularly protects the rights of seniors against scammers who may want to obtain their property and money through manipulation, the next step is to try to protect elders yourself.

The best you can do is to report the crime against a senior. But how to report crime against the elderly?

If the crime you witness is immediate and life-threatening, like a senior going through physical or sexual abuse by someone, you can simply call 911 and complain there. If the abuse you witness is a financial fraud, or you see someone continuously yelling or manipulating them for money or for any agenda, you can lodge a complaint online as well as by phone.

You can reach the Eldercare Locator by telephone at 1-800-677-1116. Specially trained operators will refer you to a local agency that can help. The Eldercare Locator is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Or if you want to lodge a complaint online, you can go through the official website of your state and write on the portal. They will get back to you as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Most of us can’t turn our heads away if we witness crime, and that should be the norm too. It’s not always the major crimes like murder or theft, but the routine ones that are often too subtle to notice. Look around and look out for seniors. They may be too weak or unstable to fight back, but you can.

If you witness a physical, emotional, sexual or financial crime against an elderly, report it! You just have to call on the helpline and lodge a complaint, and if it is possible, talk to the police and report the crime.

About time we stood up for those who can’t stand up for themselves!