The president of the Pensioners Association “The Third Age”, Mr. Ivan Djurcevic welcomed all in attendance at the beginning and expressed thanks to the guests from the CSW and Police Administration.

Afterward, Mrs. Slavica Niksic, prof. Defectologist, CSW director, commenced her presentation providing an example from Japan. Namely, it was about the scandal that elicited big media attention because it  threw out to the surface all the misery in which elderly persons are living in Japanese metropolises. According to her opinion, Croatia is not the country for the older persons.

By the Law on Protection from the  Maltreatment in the Family,  maltreatment of seniors  is placed in the context of the family violence. However, present knowledge and attention are more focused on  maltreatment of children and women.The abuse of elderly persons  can be related to each behavior within human confidence, that  in some way harm elder person, and it can be psychic, physical, sexual, financial (economic) and neglecting.

Mrs. Niksic stated,  that nowdays people live longer and that there is a growing percentage of persons above 65 years in the general population. She highlighted that violence is illegal; it occurs all over the world, in each ethnic groups and religions, educational levels, to women and men. There is not much information about phenomena of violence in the third age in Croatia or in the world. At the end of  her presentation, Mrs. Niksic informed participants about the Social Welfare Strategy for elder people in the Republic of Croatia for the period 2014 to 2016 and on risk factors for violence against them. She especially highlighted how important it is to work on the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

Next, Mrs. Sanja Turcinovic held a presentation. She emphasized that family violence is personal, family, and social issue that significantly agitate the quality of life and mental health of all exposed – directly or indirectly. 90% of cases  concern family violence, and the highest number is by the  caretakers of elder persons. Mrs. Turcinovic informed present about the concept of victims and perpetrators, and risks for them. Talking about CSW’s experience, she stated how only nine cases of maltreatment of the elderly have been registered by the CSW even though she assumes that figure is much higher. She emphasized that prevention of violence against senior persons  is crucial so as to ensure them honorable old age, financial security and enhancement of quality of life in general. The state has the right and obligation to undertake needed measures so as to prevent family violence and to alleviate its consequences.Upon Mrs. Turcinovic, Mr. Darko Dadic from the Police Administration Brod-Posavina County held a presentation. Mr. Dadic informed participants  on the efforts  that are made to that issue, and  added that preventive projects in different areas could prevent unwished behavioral states.

He said that tolerance threshold is at the high level because youth prefer games with prevailed violence. He informed  the participants that there is no solution without reporting violators and informed them of the procedural measures. He advised participants to  approach contact policemen in the particular area about such cases in order to gain confidence in the system and to call emergency phone number 112.

In the end, participants posed few questions to the guests of the community meeting , and Mrs. Kovacevic  announced next community meeting with the topic “Frauds against the elderly” which will take place in September 2015.