06/15/2026
According to the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, elder abuse impacts roughly 10% of older adults in Canada. But that number only tells part of the story.
Because what doesn’t show up in data is what stays hidden in daily life.
Abuse is often underreported, not because it is rare, but because it is complicated. Fear. Shame. Embarrassment. Dependence on the person causing harm. Or the quiet belief that speaking up won’t change anything.
For some, there’s also the barrier of not being physically, cognitively, or emotionally able to report what’s happening. For others, it’s years of self-blame or mistrust built over time.
So while statistics matter, they don’t capture silence and silence is where harm often goes unseen.
On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the question isn’t only “how common is it?” It’s also “what makes it hard to see and harder to say out loud?”
Awareness matters, but so does what we do with it. Notice. Listen. Reach out.
