Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accuses opposition bloc of doing even a " Mujra - (Courtesan Dance) to appease and get votes from the muslim community - India bloc hits back - Mujra is a controversial term - an artform with purists and among commoners used derotagorily

 

Child Abuse, Woman abuse and now Elder Abuse – Issues come to light only when media reports.

By Ashe N Ayer (TNA)

Hundreds of incidents of rape, child abuse go virtually unreported all over the world. India is no exception. Only when media begins to highlight a gory incident such as the teen-child murder in Noida by a doctor couple allegedly and movies made, movies on Pedophilia as in Kahani 2, and the gang rape of a girl on a bus, does the nation sit up and take note.

Add to this list the new emerging rampant one – Elder Abuse. Now this is grabbing global headlines with a Canadian writer Lauren Rose writing very strongly against the abuse of elders at the highest level, the President of the United States Joe Biden either in poll surveys or town hall meetings and general media analysis questioning his cognitive abilities, when an Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to stand up and validate his mental alertness, judgment and alacrity. Biden is running for a 2^nd term at 81 for the White House amid widespread criticism by Republicans and whispers among democrats and youngsters who want a change.

It is high time America confronted the “Abuse That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Elder Abuse”, says Laura Cohen, an activist and Toronto Based writer in a leading US publication.  And the victim is none other than President Joe Biden.

Recent reports published in the US media confirm President Joe Biden is a frail 81-year old who requires physiotherapy daily for his increasingly stiff gait, must wear slip proof sneakers to prevent frequent falls. Staff reportedly can only schedule important meetings for him from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, because that is when he is most lucid. But consider the fact that he has 65 years of political experience and wisdom demanding praise and not scrutiny.  

In the US dementia patients are common as the Caucasian race ages very fast unlike the Asian race that ages slowly. Media abuse of Biden shows him looking completely confused. Media highlights frequently that he shouts angrily at reporters and confuses things, like Mexico and Egypt, or ones. Alarming though,   the general consensus in America and around the world is that Biden is both too old for the job and not well. But his rich experience as a legislator is never talked about, only his benching in politics is being highlighted. If this is not elder abuse, what is?

Generally, in American families, a frail 81-year-old grandfather who wants self-respect and does not want to depend on his children insists on working but, displaying diminished mental capacity and repeated episodes of falling and physical fragility would be encouraged to quit, enjoy his retirement, golf and garden to his heart's content. Quit your day job, Gramps, they would  say.

Switch to Biden. The Biden family is not strapped for cash. Aside from any potential extended family business earnings, Joe Biden himself is reported to be worth approximately $10 million, Says Rose, pointing out that President Joe Biden faces a clear and present physical danger to his person due to his decline by age.

But the public spectacle of his enfeebled nature also begs a different question: Why is the First Lady not putting an end to her husband's repeated and consistent public humiliation? Why aren't his children or grandchildren doing the right thing for their loved one? Asks Lauren Rose, but no American is saying this but a Canadian citizen is voicing concern as Bidens problem is not that of the White House but the whole of america where a huge demographic is moving into the 70s and 80s. .

President Biden obviously needs intervention. If the Biden’s were a regular American family, the care management of a fragile senior citizen would be a strictly personal matter. Fortunately, most states in America have a duty to report laws for elder abuse very similar to reporting any suspicious incident of child abuse.

But America has become a place where not everyone is equal under the law. Tragically, enforcement of the law depends upon your political stripe. There can be no argument that a significantly diminished senior is sitting in the White House, says Rosen however pointing humiliating him is not the right attitude.

If insisting on keeping a frail and doddering senior in the White House (or any job for that matter), exposing him to daily physical risk, demanding he perform tasks beyond his mental and physical capacity or stamina and world ridicule isn't elder abuse, what is? Are there any adults in the Biden family "room" who will finally call to put a lid not just on the President's repeated public humiliations but on his tenure writ large? So rich and vast is his political experience, no senator or congressman can dare question or challenge. 

The leader of the free world is now an actual physical representation of the decline of American power and the American Republic as the media presents it . The President's diminished capacity is being wilfully and purposely ignored by those closest to him, something that is very well-appreciated by America's enemies, says Rose.  As a result, the world is in chaos. So much of America is divided on partisan lines. Elder abuse, like child abuse, should be a non-partisan issue. It's well past time for those who love Joe Biden to call to put a lid and not question his mental decline, it happens to all the elderly.

In 1892, Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover, wrote a poem called "Two Loves" which referred euphemistically to "the love that dare not speak its name." At that time, homosexuals were expected to keep their sexual orientation and relationships secret. In 1986, Norman Podhoretz published a ground-breaking essay in Commentary Magazine called "The Hate That Dare Not Speak Its Name," which put the subject of anti-Semitism in American journalism on the public radar.

India is no different from America. India’s oldest Prime Minister was Morarji Desai to lead the nation at 80 plus, 86 if i am not wrong. Why should any politician who is old be humiliated? Morarji Desai was exceptionally healthy and mentally very alert to perform his prime ministerial duties, notwithstanding his urine therapy that grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons. Thats his personal life.  But his reign was short lived to be taken over by another septuagenarian leader in a coup de tat who never faced parliament.

Day in day out elders are abused, humiliated and treated badly because of their diminishing abilities. India is no exception. Here is a fact check.

In India, 25% of elders face abuse, primarily by their own kin. Disrespect (45.6%) and beating/slapping (23.1%) were the main forms of abuse. The main abusers were the son (43.8%) and daughter-in-law (27.8%). Surprisingly, 14.2% said that their abusers were their daughter. Although prevalent and on the rise, elder abuse continues to be a taboo topic, especially with many elders hesitating to seek help or report their own kin, according to HelpAge India, an NGO which works to rehabilitate elders abused by their kin.

To BridgeTheGap and ensure that elders who are in distress or have been abandoned are provided emergency care and protection, HelpAge India pioneered an agecare response mechanism with a toll-free Elder Helpline (1800-180-1253). The first one was set up in 2004 and today it has helplines in 17 locations. It also runs 7 government supported Elderlines (14567).

June 15 is recognized by the United Nations as ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’ and is marked world over. Over the years, HelpAge India has been a front-runner in advocating for elder rights and voicing elder concerns on the issue of abuse and ageism faced by the elderly, at a societal, family and systematic level, through in-depth research reports.

Through an umbrella outreach via panel discussions, webinars, walkathons, engaging experts and decision makers, to reaching out to mainstream media, conducting social media campaigns, HelpAge aims to reach out and sensitize Central and State governments, youth, children, educational institutions, corporates and society at large.

Are there laws that punish elder abuse? Globally there are laws. In India: Indian legal system has not acknowledged the concept of „elder abuse‟ and hence no legislative protection exists against elder abuse. Though there is no specific and separate legislation for prevention of elder abuse, but there are general provisions against the practice of abuse, child, woman or elder. There  are dispersed provisions in the Indian legal system which covers a section of elders. More Later on This