Elder Abuse Legislation

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Having knowledge of social policies is essential to address elder abuse because it is crucial to have valued information to provide to the service user or how to report any type of abuse or neglect with seniors. In Canada, elder abuse legislation is a responsibility of federal, provincial and municipal (Podnieks, 2008). Likewise, the federal Criminal Code (1985) defines the standards for criminal justice through the country. Hence, this code has strengths and limitation regarding elder abuse. The major drawback of the Criminal Code is the fact that it does not address elder abuse specifically. Instead, this code operates in areas such as “child abuse, sexual assault and spousal violence” (Donovan & Regehr, 2010, p.177). However, elder abuse must be included in other Criminal Code provisions. For example, financial abuse cases can be considered through provisions related to robbery, falsification or fraud (Donovan & Regehr, 2010). Physical abuse episodes are addressed under the provisions of homicide, assassination and other physical assault. Elder sexual abuse situations are considered under points such as sexual attack, sexual attack with a weapon, intimidations …show more content…

Fundamental for domestic violence program is educating the public, specifically providing information regarding several forms of abuse and seniors’ rights, in order to raise awareness of this social issue. Another strength of this program is the existence of shelters for older men and women victims of abuse, along with groups to support victims, hotlines for seniors victims of abuse, and counselling programs available to victims and also their families (Podnieks,