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Hidden plague of sexual abuse grips care homes
By: Amelia Hill
The Observer, February 25, 2001
Professionals refused to believe it at first, but there is now
undeniable evidence that the abuse of old people in homes is on a level
with the paedophile menace.
When 84-year-old Katherine Barnes stopped talking, her family assumed
it was simply an inevitable stage in the slide towards Alzheimer's that
began some years earlier.
Soon afterwards, she became transfixed with terror every time her formerly
beloved son-in-law entered the room of her nursing home, and her family
told each other how sad it was that the illness was taking control so
quickly.
It was only when John Tiplady, owner of the £350-a-week Denison House
nursing home in North Yorkshire, was arrested for sexual attacks on the
elderly women in his care that the family began to piece together a number
of strange incidents that had slipped their notice at the time. Katherine
Barnes has since died.
'Mother wasn't listed as a victim in the court case because the
authorities didn't seem to want to go into it, but we have our doubts,'
Glenda Ruddock, Katherine's daughter, told The Observer . 'None of the
children whose mothers were abused knew what was going on and I don't know
what's worse: thinking about what might have happened to my mother or
knowing for certain that it did.'
Tiplady, 64, was sentenced to four years in jail by judge Jonathan
Crabtree, who told him that his actions were 'so disgusting as to be
almost beyond belief'. That was in 1997. But The Observer has found that
the sexual abuse of old people by care workers is still going on today and
could be as common as that suffered by children in the days before the
paedophile problem was recognised.
'Anyone who bothers to look into it cannot fail to realise that the sexual
abuse of elderly people in care homes is horribly prevalent,' said Ginny
Jenkin, director of Action for Elder Abuse, whose helpline has received
around 160 calls from frantic families and care homes since 1997
concerning extreme sexual abuse in care homes, a figure she says grossly
underrepresents the true level of the abuse taking place.
'People find it hard to understand why anyone would want to abuse an old
person, but someone suffering some mental and physical frailty is the
perfect victim: they can't defend themselves, they can't get away, and if
they're able to communicate they're probably not believed. What more could
any abuser want?' she said.
'It's not about sex, it's about power,' she added. 'There are even pages
on paedophile websites encouraging men finding it hard to access children
to gain employment at care homes. They say the sex is just as good and
there's far less risk of getting caught.'
The number of those abused are unknown: a national survey has never taken
place, despite attempts by campaigners to get the Government to fund the
research. Jackie Pritchard, the country's sole specialist in this area,
has been battling against scepticism and apathy for more than 15 years.
'This sort of abuse is endemic in all but the best care homes,' she said.
'The whole spectrum of abuse, from inappropriate touching to rape, takes
place in exactly the same way as child abuse took place in days gone past:
there is exactly the same targeting of homes, the same grooming of
particularly vulnerable victims, and the same patterns of mobility and
planning in the abusers. It's a massive scandal just waiting to break. All
we need is the government funding to prove it's as bad as we know it is.'
More than 250,000 of the elderly population live in Britain's 23,000
residential and nursing homes, but the possibility that elderly people
could be sexually abused by carers is one that even professional people
find hard to comprehend. It was not until 1991, when the first paper
written on the issue was published in America, that the subject was
discussed. The US paper catalysed Malcolm Holt, a social worker with
Northumberland County Council, to launch his own investigation. In two
years Holt uncovered over 120 cases of serious sexual abuse around the
country; 85 per cent involved victims over 75 and almost 90 per cent
targeted those completely dependent on their abusers for care.
After three years spent trying to gain the attention of a highly sceptical
professional establishment, an exhausted Holt gave up. Since the
publication of his paper in 1993, a resounding silence has enveloped the
issue. 'Elder sexual abuse is the most hidden form of abuse in the
country,' Holt maintained. 'In recent years, we have become accustomed to
reports of elderly people being sexually assaulted and raped by strangers,
but acknowledging that they are routinely sexually abused by carers is far
more challenging.'
One of the problems is the lack of regulations covering those who can work
in residential homes. 'It's a totally unregulated workforce,' said Jenkin.
Nurses struck off for abuse and refused work in nursing homes often gain
employment in residential homes instead, hoodwinking home owners who,
battling against a highly mobile and sparse workforce, routinely accept
employees after the shortest of interviews without even checking
references.
Home owners have no obligation to check the criminal records of employees
and Jenkin estimates that fewer than 5 per cent of homes bother to do so.
Another concern is the lack of training that many care workers have
received. Although training costs home owners £400, plus the cost of
employing a part-time replacement, it would cost less than £80 million
for the Government to train every care worker in the country to a suitable
NVQ level.
The Government has gone some way towards acknowledging that abuse by care
workers is a problem: by next year it aims to establish the national
Protection of Vulnerable Adults list which, in the same way as List 99
already does for children, contains the details of all workers who have
been dismissed or disciplined while working in care homes.
But, according to Jenkin, the list is not enough. 'It won't include people
who left homes under a cloud. We know from paedophiles how cunning and
mobile these people are. This list will only include a fraction of the
dangerous people targeting these homes.'
Ruddock said: 'We did everything we could think of to ensure that our
mother was safe and happy.' Denison House, set in five acres of
countryside with a lake and large, airy rooms, had a waiting list of
people to get in. 'It was charging over the odds for rooms but it was
recommended by our doctor,' said Ruddock, who made an effort to know the
staff and visited a number of times a week.
'I can't bear the thought that I might have let her down like this,' she
said. 'If something did happen, I can't stop wondering about how much she
knew about it and how terrifying it must have been.'
Catalogue of assault
According to the Action for Elder Abuse handbook, there are five main
types of abuse in care homes:
• Physical : includes hitting and restraining, or giving too much - or
the wrong - medication.
• Psychological: shouting, swearing, frightening or humiliating a
person.
• Financial: illegal or unauthorised use of a person's property, money,
pension book or other valuables.
• Sexual: forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without
his or her consent.
• Neglect : where a person is deprived of food, heat, clothing, comfort
or essential medication.
Before choosing a care home: Visit several care homes before picking the
right one. Ask for proof of the training staff receive. Make friends with
staff and discuss the care in detail. Visit your relation frequently and
at unpredictable times of day. If you are worried that a care worker is
abusing a relative, discuss the problem first with the owner of the care
home. Ask for proof of the medication your relative receives. If you are
still concerned, contact Action for Elder Abuse on 020 8764 7648 who will
advise on the best way of dealing with the situation. Lobby your local MP
to press for government funding for staff training and research into
abuse.
amelia.hill@observer.co.uk |
