New national data shows an increase in sexual assault of elderly residents in Australian aged care. Ada Brown, a proud farming wife, mother, and grandmother was sexually assaulted when she was 83 years old in a Perth aged care home, and her family discovered that the facility tried to cover it up.
In 2022, 41 sexual assault complaints were made a week across Australian aged care, most of which were women with dementia. Celebrate Ageing founder, Dr Catherine Barrett, said the elderly are intentionally targeted as their stories won’t be believed, and they are less able to seek immediate help.
Factors contributing to these crimes include the traditional failure to see older people as sexual beings, the myth that sexual assault is about sexual attraction rather than power, and cognitive dissonance.
Police charged a 56-year-old aged care worker with sexually assaulting three aged care residents aged 71, 84, and 93. South Australian police also charged a man with allegedly raping a 79-year-old resident on three separate occasions.
Last year, Barrett worked with the Older Person’s Advocacy Network and Older Women’s Network New South Wales to prevent these assaults through a collaborative project called Ready to Listen.
The project aims to build the skills and capacity to better respond to and prevent these assaults. The government-funded resource is the first of its kind in Australia.
After Ada’s sexual assault, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission took compliance action against her care home for multiple care failures, and the facility manager who denied her claims is no longer employed at the centre.
Reporting of sexual assault complaints in the sector was only made mandatory after the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in April 2021.
No one was prosecuted for Ada’s assault, and the family was disappointed with the lack of accountability from the facility’s management.
»An 83yrs old woman who was sexually assaulted speaks out after Perth homecare tries to hide it«
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