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BY MEGAN CREIG
Aura Freedom International recently unveiled a new project titled “GBV in the media.” The project, funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada, builds on the organization's previous work which aims to eradicate sex trafficking and all violence against women.
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We feel great sadness to announce the passing of Dr. Elizabeth Podnieks on February 2, 2024. We mourn the loss of a true international trailblazer in the field of elder abuse prevention. Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Podnieks founded Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario, as well as our very own organization, CNPEA, and she was a co-founder of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) . She was also the visionary and architect behind World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, an official United Nations Day since 2006.
Elizabeth was tireless in her research and advocacy efforts. She was a passionate champion of the rights of older people. Elizabeth inspired and mentored countless academics, not-for-profit leaders, and everyday frontline heroes who are dedicated to ending elder abuse.
Elizabeth was a powerhouse who created the changes she wanted to see in the world, with style and humour. We owe so much to her vision and we will make sure that it lives on in the future. We will honour her memory through our work by promoting the well-being, safety, and inclusion of older people across the world.
We extend our most heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Dr. Elizabeth Podnieks.
Elizabeth PODNIEKS Obituary (2024) - Toronto, ON - The Globe and Mail: https://legcy.co/3wqk2wm
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Over the course of 15 months, Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario, CNPEA and the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children developed five videos.These short animated videos provide key advice and resources to help anyone recognize, respond and refer when faced with an elder abuse situation. You can watch them all on YouTube and share them easily. These videos are also available in French.
WATCH:
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Following national consultations that included a public online survey and roundtables with CNPEA and other elder abuse prevention stakeholders, the Government of Canada has recently announced a new federal policy definition of mistreatment of older persons.
A policy definition "has a different purpose" from a legal definition. Its aim is to help share a common understanding of the issue and "serve as a vehicle for culture change and public awareness" and to help inform federal policies and programs. This new policy definition is a first step for the government to take leadership in better understanding and addressing the issue of mistreatment. We hope that it will support future government efforts in increasing public awareness and in actively preventing mistreatment of older persons through policy reform and support for programs and organizations that address this pressing issue.
The new definition
"Mistreatment of older persons is a single or repeated event that involves a person, a group, a community, or an organization and occurs within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust, when an act, word, attitude, or lack of appropriate action causes or risks causing negative consequences for an older person.It includes events of physical, psychological, financial or material, and sexual mistreatment that can be expressed in the form of violence (act word or attitude) or neglect (lack of appropriate action)"
Read the explanatory document and the Consultation on a federal policy definition of senior abuse: What we heard report.
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The Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has teamed up with documentary film company, Rotating Planet Productions, to raise awareness for their new film on Ageism, entitled “A Class of Ages”, set to air Winter 2024.
As the movement for seniors’ rights intensifies around the world, “A Class of Ages” follows the story of a mixed class of students and seniors, who, over the course of their semester at the University of Toronto, clash with the idea that generational segregation has fueled an epidemic of ageism, loneliness, and social exclusion. This class will act as a portal to other intergenerational initiatives and necessary conversations surrounding ageism so that every Canadian can age with dignity.
In order to tell this incredibly important and timely story, the team at Rotating Planet Productions is looking for volunteers who would be comfortable sharing their personal experience with ageism and elder abuse to raise visibility and awareness for the reality that older adults face in long-term care facilities, the workplace, hospitals and health centres, the home, and in society as a whole.
Rotating Planet understands this difficult topic should be handled with extreme care and compassion. Therefore, they will offer volunteers the choice to share their story anonymously, either on-screen or off, and ensure each interaction is completely confidential unless stated otherwise.
If you are interested in being involved in the film, please contact development researcher, Clare Duncan, at by the end of October.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about the film and the accompanying request.
The team at Rotating Planet
About Rotating Planet:
Rotating Planet is a well-established film production company that has ventured into many projects around the science of aging including meaningful environmental documentaries like Aging in the Wild, a five-part series on senescence in nature featuring experienced and accomplished scientists like Cynthia Moss and Ken Balcomb. We have extensive experience documenting important social issues and prominent biographies of older Canadian icons like Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Herb Carnegie, theatre actor John Neville, blues musician Jackie Washington, poet Irving Layton, artist Guido Molinari as well as filming everyday life such as beautiful and inspiring moments of Inuit grandmothers playing hockey and contributing to their community.
While our aim is to investigate and expose the structural and social barriers that exist around ageism and health and open the conversation for solutions and changes by telling stories about the realities of getting older, we also care deeply about the communities we make films about. Through meaningful engagement, radical symposiums, and deliberate action, this film is meant to be a force of change, using tools to bring people together and hear the stories of everyday aging people. If we changed the way we thought about aging, could we move towards an ageless society, and age differently?
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