Abuse of the elderly is rapidly on the rise in Korean society with a widening discrepancy between the changing family structure and tradition-trapped concept of parent care.Courtesy of the Korea Elder Protection Agency
SOEUL, Korea (The Korea Times), June 13, 2008:
By Park Si-soo, Staff Reporter
A 67-year-old son repeatedly assaulted his 96-year-old mother. She tried to stop the son, who suffered from severe depression and alcoholism from beating her, but her efforts proved in vain.
Spending days and nights in tears, the victim decided to file a suit against her son in a bid to live separately in peace.
However, a court turned down the petition, stating that the woman was so senile that she needed help from her son. The man was only required to sign a pledge promising "no more abuse."
Cases of senior people being abused have been on the rise in this Confucian-oriented society where respecting the elderly was once a time-honored virtue.
The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs reported a total of 4,730 cases of elderly abuse in 2007 alone, up 18.4 percent from the previous year. The number of assaults also jumped 1.7 percent to 2,312 last year. It is estimated that the number of such cases would be much higher but many cases go unreported.
More and more victims are seeking counseling. Last year, 31,000 calls were made for counseling, up 42.5 percent from 2006. Family members are responsible for 90 percent of elderly abuse cases.
Biological sons account for 53.1 percent of the cases, followed by daughters-in-law with 12.4 percent, biological daughters with 11.9 percent, and spouses with 7.6 percent.
"Many people still don't have an exact idea about elder abuse," Kim Eun-ju, director of Korea Elder Protection Agency told The Korea Times. "Not only physical assault but also hostile rhetoric against the old, though unintentional, is `violence' against the old."
The director stressed discrepancies between a changing family structure and the tradition-trapped concept of parent care as a major culprit behind the soaring acts of domestic violence against parents. Traditionally in Korea, the son is responsible for supporting parents.
"We should first recognize senior citizens as members of our society, not merely as being dependent on their offspring to survive. Therefore, we should respect them as individuals and give them the same social status," Kim said, adding that the government must team up with civic groups to address the problem.
As a first step to a domestic violence-free country, the Korea Elder Protection Agency is holding large-scale exhibitions at a government complex in Gwacheon, Korean Craft Promotion Foundation and around Insadong, northern Seoul, Friday to celebrate "World Elder Abuse Awareness Day," which falls on Sunday.
The event, which continues until June 17, will help boost public awareness of how rampant elderly abuse is in Korean society and also highlight the need for measures to protect those abused.
Copyright@koreatimes.co.kr
