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Description
The aim of the project is to provide information on violence against the elderly, its specifics, forms and ways of responding to it to the elderly, their relatives, the public and specialists in the field of domestic violence prevention. The scale of violence against the elderly is large and awareness of the problem in the society is very low, which makes it difficult to reach the victims of violence. The reasons why older people hide they are abused are financial and emotional dependence on younger family members and fear that their life situation will get worse. The poor psycho-physical condition, isolation and low mobility of older people are also of great importance. We address the project to the staff of the local domestic violence prevention system, including medical workers. The project is in line with the priority objectives of the Programme for Counteracting Family Violence in the Podlaskie Province. People working for the system of counteracting family violence in the Podlaskie Province have repeatedly reported to us the need for specialised training on this topic. In addition, socio-economic analysis of Podlaskie Province shows that the biggest challenges of the region are rapid ageing of the population, professional inactivity of people of working age, frequent migration, high unemployment and risk of poverty. According to a study by the Polish Academy of Sciences (2015), there is a strong correlation between income and education levels and consent to violence. As part of the project, we provide training for professionals in the field of domestic violence prevention and educational workshops for older people. We develop educational materials, run a public awareness campaign and provide a duty counselling on domestic violence prevention.