Socio-economic inequality in the prevalence of violence against older adults – Findings from India

Abstract

Background Violence against older adults is a well-recognised socio-psychological and public health problem worldwide. It is uncared-for, undiagnosed, and untreated problem that is widespread across both developed and developing countries. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the extent of socio-economic status related inequality in violence against older adults. Methods Data for this study came from Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India (BKPAI). Violence against older adults was the outcome variable for this study and defined as older adults who faced any abuse or violence or neglect or disrespect by any person. Bivariate analysis and regression-based decomposition technique is used to understand the relative contribution of various socioeconomic factors to violence among (N = 9541) older adults. Results The most dominant form of violence is verbal (10%) followed by disrespect (5.8%) and economic violence (5.2%). Older adults aged 80 + years [OR: 1.49; CI: 1.14–1.93] and working [OR: 1.26; CI: 1.02–1.56] had higher likelihood to suffer from violence than their counterparts. On the other hand older adults who were currently in union [OR: 0.79; CI: 0.65–0.95], living with children [OR: 0.53; CI: 0.40–0.72] and belonging to richer wealth quintile [OR: 0.35; CI: 0.24–0.51] had lower likelihood to suffer from violence than their counterparts. The decomposition results revealed that poor older adults are more prone to violence (Concentration index: -0.20). Household’s wealth status was responsible for 93.7% of the SES-related inequality whereas living arrangement of older adults explained 13.7% SES-related inequality. Education and working status of older adults made a substantial contribution to the inequalities in reported violence, explaining 3.7% and 3.3% of the total inequality, respectively. Conclusion With no or meagre income of their own, older adults belonging to the poorest wealth quintile have little or no bargaining power to secure a violent free environment for themselves. Therefore, special attention in terms of social and economic support should be given to the economically vulnerable older population.

Empowerment and mobility of women from domestic to public spaces in improving family welfare

“…Secondary data is data obtained using the documentation method, which collects data from books, newspapers, and magazines that are relevant to the research (Sinha et al 2021). Subject targets were determined purposively, namely, women who are vulnerable to socio-economic problems and who are already empowered.…”

“Nenhuma Pessoa Idosa Merece Passar por Isso”

“…Observa-se que os casos de abusos incidem principalmente sobre as mulheres e pessoas com baixa renda. 13,14 A chance de idosas sofrerem algum tipo de violência no âmbito familiar supera a dos homens, sendo o gênero um fator de risco importante em várias partes do mundo. 12 Tendo em vista que a proposta ecológica enfatiza as múltiplas causas da violência e a interação de fatores que operam no interior das famílias e contextos da comunidade, 7 pode-se inferir que ser mulher e idosa atua como um fator de risco importante para sofrer violência.…”