Profile of older people victims of domestic violence in an integrated center for protection and defense of rights in times of pandemic

Abstract

Objective

to compare the profile of older people victim of intra-family violence attended at an Integrated Center for the Protection and Defense of Rights, in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, in 2019 and in the context of a pandemic.

Method

Cross-sectional analytical study of care for older people victims of intra-family violence carried out from January 2019 to December 2020. Descriptive and comparative analysis was applied with the χ² test, at a significance level of 5%, in the distribution of characteristics of victims, occurrences and care provided.

Results

There was an increase of almost 25% in the care provided to victims of intra-family violence in 2020 compared to 2019. The profile points to most of the female sex (58.9%), aged between 60 and 80 years (78.9%), widowed/married/stable union (60.0%), brown (71.0%), Catholic (56.0%), with elementary education (37.7%), retired/pensioners (55.6%) and residents in the northern (23.3%) and southern (19.9%) zones of Manaus. The violence that most affected the older people assisted was intimidation/disruption (34.5% in 2019 and 33.2% in 2020), perpetrated by their children (66.4% in 2019 and 69.0% in 2020) with about 7.0% of situations under alcohol and/or drug use. There was a reduction of almost 9.0% in face-to-face care provided in 2020 (p<0.01). The occurrences demanded referral mainly to the specialized police station (40%).

Conclusion

Significant differences were found in the characteristics of occurrences and care between years, which reinforces the influence of the pandemic and the importance of the performance of the system of guarantees of rights for older people.

Keywords
Aged; Violence; Elder Abuse; Public Policy