LatinaLista, News Report, Posted: Jun 15, 2012

Today (June 15) is World Elder Abuse Day, and LatinaLista reports that only Latino elders make up only 10 percent of the 6 million reported cases in the United States, while 66 percent are white and 18 percent are African American. Two-thirds of elder abuse victims are women. Neglect [such as denying food or medication] is the most common form of elder abuse (59 percent) followed by physical abuse (15.7 percent); financial exploitation (12.3 percent); emotional/verbal abuse (7.3 percent); and sexual abuse (.04 percent).

Most would think that elder abuse would be easy to spot, or at the least, the senior victims would speak out about it. Unfortunately, but many case go unreported. Like any victim of abuse, elders can be just as intimidated, feel threatened or be made to feel it’s their fault. A victim may experience dementia and not even be fully cognizant of the abuse.

The National Center on Elder Abuse  lists red flags that can help people notice regarding any of the types of abuse.