Rochester-area advocates raise awareness of crimes against elders

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was marked Thursday.

It aims to spread the word about the prevalence of crimes against older members of society.

Members of the Elder Justice Committee met at Brighton Town Park to discuss the issue.

On average, 300,000 elders are victimized each year in New York state.

“People think of elder abuse as physical abuse, but there is much other kinds of abuse,” explained Marydel Wypych, chair of the Elder Justice Committee. “There is neglect, there’s emotional abuse, there is people not attending to the elder appropriately: helping them get medications, the doctors’ appointments they need, the food they need, things like that.”

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was launched in 2006 to bring attention to the problem of elder neglect, abuse, and exploitation.