New project to combat sexual assualt in residential care

An estimated 50 people are sexually assaulted in Australian aged care homes every week, according to evidence presented to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Most of them are women. Most live with dementia.

Staff classified such incidents as having “no impact” on the victim-survivor in the majority of cases (58%) investigated in a 2019 KPMG study.

Author and academic Kate Swaffer attributes this shocking result to a commonly held misconception that people with dementia won’t remember pain or trauma.

“Some service providers think if someone with dementia is sexually assaulted, they won’t feel distressed and they won’t remember the sexual assault,” she said.

Compounding the problem is a tendency on the part of service providers and investigating authorities to dismiss the testimony of people with cognitive impairment as unreliable, according to the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN).

With an aim to address the hidden problem of sexual assault in residential aged care, OPAN is launching a new campaign called Ready To Listen — it asks the world to listen to older people who report sexual assault.

At the heart of the project is a MAP (myths, facts and practical strategies), which outlines 10 ways in which residential aged care service providers can improve their responses to — and prevent — sexual assault.

“We know there are perpetrators who will intentionally target residents who cannot communicate or who will not be believed if they report sexual assault,” said Project Coordinator Dr Catherine Barrett.

The initiative aims to shed light on this neglected issue in the lead-up to World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on 15 June. Stage one of the project, led by OPAN in partnership with Celebrate Ageing Ltd and the Older Women’s Network NSW, is aimed at residential aged care providers.

“The sector has seen little improvement since the aged care royal commission handed down its findings more than 12 months ago,” said OPAN CEO Craig Gear.

“The most recent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Sector performance report identified 530 cases of unlawful sexual conduct or inappropriate sexual contact in the three months until December 2021.

“The first step in preventing sexual assault, as the title of this project suggests, is to start listening to older people who are at risk.

“We also need to treat older people, especially those with dementia and cognitive impairment, with the dignity and respect they deserve.

“That means taking their sexual assault disclosures seriously and responding appropriately, which includes suitable, trauma-informed support for victim-survivors.

“It’s also about developing prevention strategies and holding people who sexually assault others to account.”

OPAN is holding a free webinar and Q&A on preventing sexual assault of people with dementia in residential aged care. For more information and registration, visit this link — https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/preventing-sexual-assault-of-people-with-dementia-in-residential-aged-care-registration-336911751117?aff=Website.

If you, or someone you know, is at risk of abuse in residential aged care, call the Older Persons Advocacy Network on 1800 700 600 or visit opan.org.au. For Elder Abuse call 1800ELDERHELP or 1800353374.

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