What Is Elder Abuse?
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The General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons.
The document outlined specific older person’s Rights regarding: independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity.
Summary of the 18 Human Rights Principles
Independence Principles:
Participation Principles:
Care Principles:
Self-fulfillment Principles:
Dignity Principles:
Ontario’s Human Rights Code, was enacted in 1962. The Code prohibits actions that discriminate against people based on a protected ground in a protected social area.
Protected grounds are:
Older adults in Ontario who are capable have the right:
It is important to respect the following issues when providing help to abused or at-risk seniors:
The Province of Ontario passed: An Act Respecting Victims of Crime- Victims Bill of Rights, June 11, 1996
The Act supports and recognizes the needs and rights of victims of crime, including seniors, in both the criminal and civil justice system.
The Act specifies how victims of crime should be treated by justice system officials at different stages of the criminal justice process.
The statement of principles requires that victims:
The Government of Canada has proposed The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights Act (Bill C-32)
The legislation seeks to create clear statutory rights at the Federal level to information, protection, participation and restitution, and to ensure a complaint process is in place for breaches of these rights.
Victims of crime including seniors would have the following rights:
(a) the right to information about the criminal justice system, the programs and services that are available to victims of crime and the complaint procedures that are available to them when their rights have been infringed or denied;
(b) the right to information about the status of the investigation and the criminal proceedings, as well as information about reviews while the offender is subject to the corrections process, or about hearings after the accused is found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder or unfit to stand trial, and information about the decisions made at those reviews and hearings;
(c) the right to have their security and privacy considered by the appropriate authorities in the criminal justice system;
(d) the right to protection from intimidation and retaliation;
(e) the right to request testimonial aids;
(f) the right to convey their views about decisions to be made by authorities in the criminal justice system that affect the victim’s rights under this Act and to have those views considered;
(g) the right to present a victim impact statement and to have it considered;
(h) the right to have the courts consider making, in all cases, a restitution order against the offender; and
(i) the right to have a restitution order entered as a civil court judgment that is enforceable against the offender if the amount owing under the restitution order is not paid.