Violence against elderly on the rise

The number of elderly victims of violence in the Netherlands is on the rise, according to a new report released Tuesday.

The latest figures show that 2.5 percent of the Dutch population over 15 years of age are victims of violence. The study reveals that violence perpetrated on victims aged 65 and up are significantly less than average, but climbing nonetheless.

One in every hundred Dutch citizens who are 65 years and older have been a victim of violence in one form or another in 2013, figures that include both threats and abuse. Violence against the elderly is higher than in previous years, and has doubled since the 2008/2009 survey, with over twenty-three-thousand cases reported.

Despite the fact that the majority of elderly victims of violence were between the ages of 65 and 74, there were an alarming number of violent cases reported involving men who were 74 and older. One in five of these cases occurred in retirement homes, Statistics Netherlands reports.