Elder Abuse Cases in HK Keep Declining, but Physical Abuse Still Dominates

Yonger Shen, JMSC News

The aging trend is becoming a primary concern in Hong Kong. According to studies, one out of eight people in Hong Kong are aged 65 or above. Protection and support for the elders are everyone’s responsibilities in this society since many of them could be incapable of self-care to various degrees and need help from others.

However, according to WHO’s estimate, one out of every six elders over the age of 60 has been abused under different circumstances. What kind of abuse are the elders in HK suffering from? It matters because everyone deserves to live with dignity and respect, and it’s related to the well-being of the whole society.

The data is obtained from the DATA.GOV.HK and provided by the Social Welfare Department of Hong Kong. The original dataset titles are “Statistics on Elder Abuse Cases” and “Statistics on Residential Care Services for the Elderly.”

Questions to Answer

  1. Which residential district in HK has the most elder abuse cases and nursing homes in the most recent year? Is there any relevance between these two factors?
  2. For the male and female elderly respectively, which are the three most common types of elder abuse in HK in the most recent year?
  3. How has the number of different types of elder abuse cases changed over the years?

Summary of Findings

  1. Increasing nursing homes doesn’t show obvious signs of reducing elder abuse.

  • Although with a close number of nursing homes at around 40, the two districts, Wong Tai Sin and Central and Western, have the highest and lowest number of elder abuse cases among all the 18 districts of Hong Kong in 2022, at 43 and 2 respectively.

  • The six districts with the number of nursing homes above 75 include Yuen Long, Yau Tsim Mong, Eastern, Kowloon City, and Sham Shui Po, with Kwai Tsing having the highest at 103 nursing homes. However, Yuen Long, despite having a relatively high number of nursing homes, also reports the fourth-highest number of elder abuse cases, with 32 cases. While Kwai Tsing and Sham Shui Po have the highest number of nursing homes, they both ranked sixth highest in the number of elder abuse cases.

  • This gives us a hint as to the direction of future investigations, i.e., we could look at the number and type of abuse cases that specifically take place in nursing homes.

  1. Female victims far outnumber males in terms of physical abuse.

  • Physical abuse has the highest number of cases for both genders, with female victims significantly outnumbering male victims, respectively at 152 and 94.

  • Psychological abuse and multiple abuse cases are also notable type of elder abuse, while financial abuse and aexual abuse cases are relatively low. But still, female victims are more prevalent in all categories.

  1. Elder abuse has witnessed a notable decline over the years, with physical abuse staying dominant.

  • Overall, while physical abuse remains the most common, there has been a notable decline in the total number of elder abuse since 2016.

  • Psychological abuse and financial abuse show noticeable fluctuations over the years, with psychological abuse peaking at 188 cases in 2008 and financial abuse peaking at 109 cases in 2017.

  • Neglect, sexual abuse, abandonment, and other types of abuse have consistently low case numbers, while multiple abuse, showing slight fluctuations at around 30 cases every year, could not be overlooked.

Conclusion

Above all, the findings of the investigation of elder abuse show that the protection of the elders in Hong Kong varies from district to district, and that the abuse of the elders involves a wide range of aspects such as physical, psychological and properties, and that there are significant differences in the gender of the victims.

It’s alarming to see districts like Wong Tai Sin and Central and Western, with a similar number of nursing homes, showing starkly difference in abuse cases, highlighting that merely having nursing homes is not enough to ensure the well-being of the elders. Also, the high prevalence of physical abuse, especially among female elders, is particularly distressing and calls for urgent attention and action.

All these figures should serve as a wake-up call, prompting society to take a closer look at the living conditions of the elders and to implement stronger measures to protect them from such harm.