A Call for Stiffer Penalties for Perpetrators Who Attack Older Persons

Maria Elena Sylvestre

But while Belize was lauded for its work in safeguarding older persons, Patroness Maria Elena Sylvestre says that there is a lot to be done. In the past, we have seen that older persons have been victims of verbal, physical abuse and crime. She challenges the government to increase the penalty for persons who perpetrate crimes against older persons. 

Maria Elena Sylvestre, Patroness, HelpAge Belize

“It’s more than ten years that HelpAge International funded a legal review which looked at the laws of Belize with relation to how it affected older persons or the lack of protection of older persons. It is sitting on a shelf. It was presented to various administrations and it is still sitting on a shelf. We need to put teeth into our laws so that if you attack an older person, your jail time is tripled. If you abuse a child or an older person, then the punishment is severer. And we need also to foster education in the children’s homes before they go to school. The way we were a hundred years ago, fifty years ago, when older persons were respected—grannies were loved, grandpas use to sit and tell stories. This is what we need to bring back in our society. How we will do it is why we are sitting here today.”