Author: Ágnes Szabó, Senior Lecturer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Elder abuse is prevalent in New Zealand, with one in ten people aged 65 and older experiencing some form of it and only one in 14 abuse cases brought to the attention of a service agency that can intervene. Last year alone there were numerous media reports featuring accounts of neglect, financial exploitation and physical or verbal abuse of older people. However, elder abuse is notoriously difficult to study. Those experiencing abuse often avoid disclosing these experiences for a variety of complex reasons. It is often friends, other family members, neighbours or practitioners who realise that something harmful is happening…