Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on developing a strategy for preventing violence and abuse against older people.

The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards anybody is unacceptable. Though anyone can suffer from domestic abuse, for older victims, abuse may be more disguised or compounded by other age-related factors such as ill health. I have had meetings on these issues with the specialist domestic abuse sector, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Ministerial counterparts as part of the Government’s agenda to protect victims.

The Home Office has funded Hourglass, a specialist elder abuse charity, for a number of years to enhance their helpline, provide casework support, and train specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. We are committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade, which includes reducing the prevalence of domestic abuse against all victims.