In Human Rights Council Resolution 33/5, violence against older persons is described as “a widespread phenomenon that includes discrimination in the public sphere, linguistic and employment discrimination, lack of access, isolation, neglect, financial exploitation, physical and psychological violence and the withholding of basic needs, and physical attacks”. In this resolution, the Council already called for “the need to combat the various forms of violence against older persons”.

Violence and abuse against older persons take different forms and occurs in all types of settings, including within families and at home, in care and health settings, at the workplace, in public spaces, in the media, in the digital space, and in emergency and humanitarian settings. A wide range of actors, including family members, caregivers, legal guardians, health professionals, government workers and financial representatives may be identified as perpetrators. In many instances, such violence and abuse often remain unnoticed and unspoken, as taboo in many societies.

Objectives of the report

The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Dr. Claudia Mahler, will focus her next thematic report to the Human Rights Council in 2023 on violence, abuse and neglect of older persons. In this report, the Independent Expert will aim at examining the existing international and regional legal protection standards applicable to the issue of violence against older persons, as well as, at analysing the manifestations and forms of violence, abuse and neglect faced by older persons. It will also identify and analyse good practices in combating violence and abuse of older persons to be able to fully enjoy their human rights. Furthermore, the Independent Expert will analyse the issue from an intersectional perspective, in exploring the interactions with other social factors such as gender, sex, race, ethnicity, indigenous identity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, social status, place of origin and immigration status. Finally, the Independent Expert will provide recommendations on ways to protect older persons from violence while upholding their human rights, and in ensuring victims, access to justice, remedies and reparations.

Key questions

In this regard and to inform her report, the Independent Expert would like to seek written inputs from relevant stakeholders, including national and local governments, national and international non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, international and regional inter-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and entities, activists, and academics.

She strongly encourages sharing concrete examples of good practices where available.

The Independent Expert welcomes any information, reports, legislation or other materials deemed relevant on these issues. She is particularly interested in the areas highlighted in the questionnaire available here:

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