World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is an initiative launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) and recognized as a United Nations International Day by the General Assembly in 2011. In its declaration, The United Nations stated that June 15 of every year “represents the one day in the year when the whole world voices its opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted on some of our older generations.”
The purpose of the WEAAD is to raise awareness about the abuse and neglect of older persons and how it can be prevented. Increased awareness, understanding of elder abuse, and its significance as a public health and human rights issue can help respond to it more appropriately and timely.
Elder abuse is a global phenomenon that affects the health, civil and human rights of millions of older adults around the world. Despite the fact that the problem exists and affects too many vulnerable people, elder abuse still occurs in many forms and has little recognition or response.
This annual day of awareness focuses the world’s attention on the need for all of us to take responsibility in preventing elder abuse. This day we must recognize and remember the elder abuse going on around us. This day, and every day, we must remind ourselves that older people in our communities have the right to be safe and to be treated with respect and dignity. We all must take a part in preventing elder abuse and ensuring that older adults are not treated in demeaning, discriminatory, or dismissive ways.
The international symbol for WEAAD is a purple iris. The purple, symbol colour for dignity, is used in all WEAAD promotional material and marketing initiatives across the world so that people can identify the colour with the day. A simple way of acknowledging your support of elder abuse awareness is by wearing purple on June 15. Wearing purple is a way to bring visibility to the complex issue of elder abuse that is often overlooked.
In addition to the WEAAD, the UN also observes an International Day of Older Persons on October 1 every year to recognize the contributions of older persons and to examine issues that affect their lives.