Entitled to the Same Rights is the name of the report in which older women from 19 countries speak about their rights to non-discrimination and equality, and to freedom from violence, abuse and neglect. The research on which the report is based was organised by HelpAge International and their affiliates talked to 250 older women exploring the intersectional discrimination older women can be subjected to. Participants were invited to respond as individuals through questionnaires or as part of focus group interviewsand 35 women from Serbia took part in the research via the Red Cross of Serbia, a HelpAgeaffiliate. The participants from Serbia are Red Cross volunteers or members of the self-help groups for older people from municipalities SavskiVenac, Velika Plana and Kragujevac.

Often elder abuse is hidden, underestimated or ignored, considered a private matter between relatives. It is no surprise, therefore, that it is widely underreported.

But elder abuse does not only happen behind closed doors. It can happen on public transport, in hospitals, and in shops and markets where older people are ignored, insulted and even attacked. 

“Elder abuse is an enormous problem for older people around the world. It makes them feel humiliated, devalued, invisible and dehumanised. Something must be done to address it,” says Jemma Stovell, Campaigns Manager at HelpAge International.

This report helps the voices of older women in Serbia be heard not only in their own country but on a global scale and allows them to participate in international efforts to prevent elder abuse and discrimination, contributing to better protection of older people’s human rights everywhere.

The report will be presented at the 8^th Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing between 5^th and 7^th July 2017 in the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Additional information: natasa@redcross.org.rs or milutin@redcross.org.rs