Bedridden 86-year-old routinely beaten by wife
An 86-year-old bedridden man routinely beaten for 12 months by his wife of 50 years is among six highlighted abuse cases reported to Hong Kong's first service for protection of the elderly.
The case is the most serious since non-government welfare groups Caritas and Haven of Hope jointly launched the three-year, $6.2 million pilot programme on April 1.
The service is the first of its kind. Previous elderly-abuse cases were treated as part of family services by government and non-governmental social workers.
The new scheme provides public education to encourage reporting of cases and counselling for victims and families.
The 86-year-old victim's wife, 67, said it was 'heart-breaking' beating up her husband, but he was often unco-operative when she tried to change and clean him. 'I felt very upset by his situation and just cannot control my temper. I felt even more upset every time I slapped his legs and buttocks,' she said.
'I kept cursing him beside his bed. But at the same time, I was also very depressed and even thought of suicide.'
In two other cases, a 72-year-old man was locked out of his flat by his daughter-in-law every day until midnight and an elderly woman was kept in bed all day and given little to eat by her son.
Two cases involved people who used their elderly parents' welfare payments for themselves and one other case involved a woman physically abused by her daughter-in-law.
Haven of Hope administrative officer Koo Wai-ki said: 'Our programme is more focused on the social problems of elderly abuse than previous services so victims and their families can be helped in all relevant aspects.'
The Social Welfare Department recorded 97 cases of abuse of the elderly in the 12 months ending in August 1999, the latest available figures.
Chung Kin-wah, an assistant professor of social science at Polytechnic University, said he believed this represented only 10 per cent of the real number. He said the victims and their families were often unwilling to seek outside help.
Professor Iris Chi, head of the University of Hong Kong's department of social work and social administration, said some abuse cases were unintentional because people caring for the victims did not have the knowledge and patience to do the job.
Even abusers could become victims - trapped in a situation they could not control - while many elderly accepted abuse for fear of being deserted, she said.
'Many elderly people may not be aware of psychological abuse such as when they are ordered to stay outside the home until midnight or when they are called 'old fools' and neglected by their family members,' Professor Chi said.
She said there had been no territory-wide study of abuse of the elderly for 20 years, making it difficult to identify trends and causes.
