Experience of Domestic Abuse among Malaysian Elderly

Domestic elder abuse is a social problem. In some countries, it had affected a large number of the elderly. Although this issue has gained prominence for over two decades, in Malaysia, the information on this is still scarce. Most of the elder abuse cases were not reported and concealed from public knowledge. Victims too, rarely report the abuses perpetrated by their own family members. This study aims to examine the experiences of the elderly in Malaysia who have sustained domestic abuse. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted on ten (10) people aged 60 year and above were residing in Rumah Seri Kenangan (an old folks home) in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan. Each interview took an average of 15 to 30 minutes and was stopped when the information reached a saturated level. Observation on the physical characteristics of the elderly was done during the interview. The findings showed that majority of the elderly had experienced one or more abuses. The most reported forms of abuse were emotional and financial abuse. The main perpetrators were the adult children or their spouses. Through observation, the study found that the victims had similar characteristics namely physical disability and one or more chronic illnesses.