Status of Women committee  No, you're not mistaken. I certainly appreciate the importance of the criminal framework for prosecuting in circumstances where there has been a crime. I'm not convinced that this is always the response the older person wants when she has been victimized--often because the person

Status of Women committee  Yes and no. My perspective is that elder abuse is not a single Criminal Code crime...so that legislation generally applies to a victim and an offender regardless of age. We have noticed that there's an absence of discussion about the age of victim in terms of sentencing, so maybe

Status of Women committee  In terms of prioritizing recommendations, I think one of the easiest steps is to map out existing resources. Resources change, so that needs to be maintained. That becomes a challenge. Providing a road map of all the different resources available in different communities.... We'v

Status of Women committee  Yes, if I may. For me, that hearkens back to our recommendation number five. People in communities who are concerned need practical information on locally available resources. I think often people care about the older person in their community, but it's hard to take that step f

Status of Women committee  Part of what I'm speaking to in that recommendation is that people working in different sectors are often the front-line people. If an older woman has gone into a place where she's reaching out for assistance--it may be at a bank, in a hospital where she presents with injuries, o

Status of Women committee  In terms of the scope of research we've done thus far on sentencing where a crime involves an older adult victim, I can't speak to specific length of sentencing right now. What I would say is that actually we found that the age of the victim was rarely mentioned in terms of decis

Status of Women committee  No, not that I'm aware of.

Status of Women committee  My research is academic. I don't work with vulnerable women one on one. What we notice, when people talk to us about cases or when we look at cases, is that there could be a dynamic of dependency, especially with an older woman who's not the primary breadwinner and doesn't actu

Status of Women committee  Yes, absolutely. In terms of certain contexts, if there's no access to legal aid, for some women there can be no access to legal options. Access to a family lawyer is going to be crucial to that woman's independence, especially in a domestic violence context where there are finan

Status of Women committee  There's a link in a number of ways, but one of the most important ways in which there is a link is that financial abuse may be what is causing the neglect. If there's a situation where an adult has allowed someone else to have control over their finances through a power of atto

Status of Women committee  I'd like to begin by thanking the committee for this opportunity to present today. My presentation will focus on the recommendations contained in our 16-page brief, which we provided last week. The discussion of recommendations will link to features of the legal framework in Cana