May 27, 2019 | Rosanna Di Grazia
June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) - the internationally recognised day that highlights one of the worse manifestations of manifestations of ageism and inequality in our society, elder abuse.
Elder abuse is any act which causes harm to an older person and is carried out by someone they know and trust, such as a family member or friend. The abuse may be physical, social, financial, psychological or sexual and can include mistreatment and neglect.
Attached to this email is our Toolkit for 2019, along with a letter outlining the history of WEAAD and how individuals and organisations can participate. The toolkit includes links to free resources, information about purchasing merchandise - such as purple ribbons, bookmarks and magnets - and ideas for events and social media. To ensure merchandise arrives in time for June 15, we recommend placing orders directly with LexiconArt (the supplier) as soon as possible.
For those of you active on social media, please join Seniors Rights Victoria on Facebook or Twitter to stay up to date. #WEAAD has trended on Twitter in previous years, and it would be great to get it trending again this year. More people getting involved means a bigger profile for WEAAD, and a greater awareness raised. We also enjoy seeing what activities everyone gets involved in, so make sure you tag or share your photos with us.
If you are hosting an event or activity this year, you are welcome to register it for free on our events calendar. This is a public listing, which we also promote through our social media channels. We also have a media release template that you can fill out with your event details and distribute to local news outlets.
