VIOLENCE AND ABUSE AGAINST ELDERLY: THE OTHER FACE OF AGING

Objective: To analyze the issue of violence and abuse suffered by the elderly in Brazil and the responsibility of Open Universities of the Third Age as a center for reflection and support for issues related to the human aging process.
Methodology: literature with retrospective, descriptive and documentary research.

Results: With the increase in the elderly population in Brazil, various problems that require effective solutions arise in order to ensure access to this age group and provide them with a better quality of life with dignity, respect, guaranteeing them even a healthier life, depriving them of any kind of violence, whether physical, whether moral, psychological and emotional. Elderly people have been victims of all kinds of violence, ranging from insults and beatings by family members and caregivers themselves, to evil suffered abuse in public transport and public institutions and private serving this population. According Secretary’s data the Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic, the majority of violence against the elderly in Brazil, ranging from financial abuse and neglect to bad physical and psychological treatment, and it is committed by family members of the elderly themselves. On the other hand, the Elderly Statute provides that in Brazil, no elderly will be object of any kind of negligence, discrimination, violence, cruelty or oppression. Thus, any kind of discrimination, physical or moral violence, act of cruelty and oppression, abuse should be referred to legal punishments established in current criminal law.
Conclusion: education as a social practice has an important attribute in the debate the issue of violence and abuse suffered by older people, as this has a character of transformation, beyond the mere idea of information transmission. Education has the power to arouse the attention of society to the problems faced by the elderly, showing the need to ensure conditions conducive to aging with dignity, where the old part, not only as mere listener, but as participation and social transformation agent. Therefore, it should be included in the list of pedagogical and curricular practices of Open Universities of the Third Age in order to propose coping strategies to this sad reality. Only with a participative society we can achieve a higher level of citizenship and considerably reduce social inequalities, giving our elderly a better quality of life, free from any kind of violence.