Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto என்னும் அமைப்பைச் சேர்ந்த Maya Roy என்பவரை மேற்கோள் காட்டி செய்தி வெளியிட்டுள்ள பத்திரிகை இந்த வயது முதிர்ந்தவர் சொல்லொணாக் கொடுமைகளை அனுபவித்த போதிலும் பேரக் குழந்தைகள் மீது கொண்ட பாசத்தினால் இவற்றை எல்லாம் பொறுத்துக் கொண்டார் என்கிறது.
மதுபோதையிலிருந்த மருமகனால் ஒரு முறை தான் தள்ளி விழுத்தப்பட்டாரெனவும் இதன் காரணமாக ன் பின்புறமாக விழுந்ததாரெனவும் இந்த முதியவர் தெரிவித்துள்ளார். அவரை வயோதிபர் இல்லத்துக்கு அனுப்புவார்கள் என மகளும் மருமகனும் தொடர்ந்து மிரட்டி வந்ததனர் எனவும் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ள மூதாட்டி வேறு எவருடனும் தொடர்பு கொள்ள முடியாதபடி தடுக்கப்பட்டாரெனவும் தொலைபேசி அழைப்புகளை எடுப்பதற்குக் கூட அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கவில்லை எனவும் கூறி உள்ளார்.
Elder abuse among immigrants a growing concern
Victims held back by stigma, isolation, language, immigration status
Published On Mon Apr 26 2010Nicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter
Greater Toronto community workers are becoming increasingly concerned about elderly immigrants sponsored to Canada and then abused by family members.
Though not a new phenomenon, elder abuse is seen more frequently by workers in immigrant services. The marked increase has been noted since Citizenship and Immigration Canada, under a funding agreement with Ontario in 2005, began investing more resources in seniors’ English classes, drop-ins and recreational programs.
“Many of our immigrant seniors don’t have an idea what elder abuse is,” said Maya Roy, executive director of Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto. “The issue only comes up in a group when people meet in class, get to know each other and start talking.”
In once case, a woman was sponsored by her daughter and son-in-law from Sri Lanka in 1995 to cook and clean the couple’s house and babysit their two children.
The Toronto woman, now 76, was not allowed to talk on the phone or have visitors. Her savings were seized. The son-in-law, an alcoholic, once pushed her so hard she fell on her back. She was then taken in by a distant relative.
“I didn’t want to leave the house because I was very attached to my grandchildren,” the woman said through a Tamil interpreter. “They said they would send me to a nursing home so I wouldn’t see them again.”
She said she never contacted authorities because she felt ashamed and afraid.
Between 4 and 10 per cent of seniors are estimated to have experienced abuse, but there are no good statistics to gauge the extent of the problem, said Teri Kay of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. Numbers by ethnicity are non-existent.
“The issue is just beginning to come out of the closet,” Kay said. “And for immigrant seniors, the cultural differences add to the mix of language barrier and other issues to access help.”
In a report released Monday by Toronto’s Wellesley Institute, Ryerson University professor Sepali Guruge studied the abuse experience of 43 elderly immigrant women from the Tamil community.
The report provides a snapshot of the mental, physical, emotional and financial abuse, as well as neglect that immigrant seniors experience at the hands of loved ones. Respondents even spoke about sexual abuse along with threats, control and neglect by their children, in-laws and spouses.
Many stayed with the abusers for a variety of reasons: “children’s and grandchildren’s welfare, financial concerns, language differences, transportation, community expectations, immigration sponsorship (obligations) and the lack of information and difficulties in accessing services,” said Guruge.
Settlement agencies also cited recent cases they have seen:
A son removed his ailing grandfather from hospital despite a doctor’s objection because the elderly man was a visitor with no health coverage and the son would have to pay.
One man stole money from his mother because she didn’t know English and let him do all her banking.
A woman removed the burners from the stove to prevent her mother-in-law from warming up her food after a dispute between the two.
Saadia Akram-Pall of the Rexdale Women’s Centre is part of a network of social agencies that formed Prevention of Elder Abuse and Community Education in 2006 to address the issue. She said resources are limited and the best they can do is bring these seniors out of isolation through recreational programs. Unlike child abuse, there is no mandatory reporting by a third party for elder abuse.
“You can’t even call a program an elder abuse program. We have to call it a senior safety program. Otherwise, no one would show up,” said Akram-Pall.
Immigrant agencies said frontline workers, friends and neighbours must be vigilant.
“They should speak to the (suspected victims) alone because the abusers are always with them. They have to pay attention to non-verbal cues,” said Kay.
The network launched a 154-language senior safety phone line in April 2009 and received 4,500 calls in its first year.
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