Abuse of the Malaysian Elderly: An Analysis on the Adequacy and Suitability of the Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521) to Protect the Elderly Victim

Abstract

Abuse of the elderly is not a new issue at the international level. It is seen as a serious social problem that is a growing concern. A number of countries have enacted specific legal mechanisms to address and prevent the problem. In Malaysia, the abuse of the elderly is recognized as a form of domestic violence. The legislation dealing with matters pertaining to domestic violence is Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521) which is to be read together with Penal Code. The Domestic Violence Act (DVA) becomes the main legislation which gives protection and provides civil remedies to the abused victims while the Penal Code concerns with penalizing the abuser. Despite the growing literature on the issue of elder abuse in Malaysia, little has been written on the legal protections offered by the DVA to the elderly victims. This paper aims to explore the adequacy of civil remedies given to the abused elderly as provided for under the DVA and further analyses on the adequacy and suitability of the Act in protecting the elderly victims from abuse.

Knowledge, Attitude, And Perception On Elder Abuse Among Healthcare Professionals And Healthcare Students In Malaysia

“…The problem is that it can only cover a few types of elder abuse. The remaining parts, such as abandonment, inancial, and neglect, are not included (Bidin and Yusoff, 2015). An analysis based on the provision in the Domestic Violence Act 1994 showed that the existing legislation is inadequate to provide full protection to the elderly victims and signi icant amendments are required (Bidin and Yusoff, 2015).…”

“…As mentioned above, the Domestic Violence of Act only covers a few parts of elder abuse. These include physical abuse and sexual abuse (Bidin and Yusoff, 2015). One of the suggestions includes the Legislature amending the Domestic Violence Act, adding a clause pertaining to elder abuse.…”

“…In addition, the legislation can amend the Family Act by inserting a provision which compels children to take care of their parents. However, this is possible to be carried out; for instance, the Family Act of Maldives has put an obligation on children to take care of their parents as well as supporting them by providing maintenance (Bidin and Yusoff, 2015). Based on one of the studies conducted in the Republic of Ireland, which was designed to study the attitude of healthcare workers towards older adults, the indings suggested that the public health nurses had a more positive attitude towards older adults than the registered nurses, nursing assistants, and students.…”

“…The Domestic Violence Act, 1994 is the main legislation which gives protection and provides civil remedies to the abused victims, while the Penal Code concerns with penalizing the abuser. There is no legislation explicitly aiming elder abuse and neglect (Bidin and Yusoff, 2015) . Even though elder abuse is considered as domestic violence, no dedicated unit for elder abuse is available in Malaysia, which may also contribute to the low rate of elder abuse.…”

The Wellbeing of the Heterogeneous Older Persons: The Analysis of ‘Going in Style’ Gereontological Comedy Film and Real-life Malaysian Elderly

“…This study also believes there is room for improvement in providing proper treatment for the older person in Malaysia. For instance, a study conducted by Bidin and Mohd Yusoff (2015) shows the incidence of abuse among the older person. Their study found that the provisions in the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) reveal the existing legislation is not sufficient to give full protection to the older person from neglect misconduct and abuse.…”