Sexual Abuse

Unfortunately, the elderly and infirm can’t always rely on protective family members to look after them 24 hours a day. While licensed institutions are under a legal obligation to protect those under their care, sadly we continue to see cases of sexual abuse involving nursing home and long term care residents. Nursing home residents who are victims of sexual abuse suffer doubly. They not only experience trauma from the sheer violence of such an event, but also the agonizing isolation that is often caused by the ensuing fear.

A central reality of all sexual abuse cases is that they typically involve the violation of a weaker person by an overpowering brutality. Elders depend on their caretakers to be just that–caretakers. When any one of these entrusted personnel or fellow residents assaults a resident, it often goes unreported. Victims often suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s, and they may not have the ability to communicate about the abuse to visiting family, friends, or even staff members. Even without those limitations, some can feel so ashamed that they hide what’s happened to them. This type of abuse is often ongoing and perpetrated by one of the staff or even other residents. Fear of reprisal can paralyze an abused elderly person, as they realize that they are at the mercy of the institution and its staff.