Elderly men are gathered at a public park in central Seoul on April 12, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Senior abuse increased last year due to the pandemic along with changes in family composition.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare reported a 14.2-percent increase in the number of cases involving abuse against seniors, with a total of 19,391 reported last year.
Among all reported cases, 6,774 cases were confirmed as acts of senior abuse, which was 8.2 percent more than the previous year. Of all reported cases, 34.9 percent turned out to be actual cases of abuse.
The number of second offenses, in particular, rose by 20.4 percent from the previous year, reaching a total of 739 cases last year.
There were 8,423 perpetrators of senior abuse last year, 64.3 percent of whom were men (5,413 people).
Most of the perpetrators were a spouse (2,455 people, 29.1 percent), followed by a son of the victim (2,287 people, 27.2 percent).
Last year was the first time in which spouses surpassed sons to become primary perpetrators of senior abuse, most likely due to the increasing number of households comprised of senior couples, the government said.
The percentage of senior-couple households rose from 44.5 percent in 2014 to 58.4 percent in 2020. During the same period, seniors living with their children dropped from 28.4 percent to 20.1 percent.
Changes in household composition have been attributed to an increasing number of senior abuse cases among senior-couple households, rising every year from 26.3 percent in 2017 to 34.4 percent last year.
Sorted by the type of abuse, 43.6 percent dealt with non-physical abuse, followed by physical abuse (41.6 percent), neglect (6.5 percent), financial abuse (3.8 percent) and sexual abuse (2.4 percent).
Experts argue that the increasing number of senior abuse cases can largely be attributed to the prolonged pandemic, changes in the structure of households, disputes between household members, and growing stress over senior care.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
