Vulnerable Women, Children, & Elderly Project

Risk factor determines how vulnerable someone will be when it comes to being abused. The risk factors as stated before are based on the persons age, gender, cultural background and physical ability.

Age is one of the biggest issues when it comes to abuse. Children are known to be abused, because they are obviously weaker than a grown man. A child has a hard time defending themselves, because they are still growing up and their body isn’t fully developed at such a young age so an abuser could take their frustration out on a child just from being in a stressful situation and since the child cannot defend themselves they are vulnerable to being abused.” The economics of the issue may appear relatively insignificant at first sight, considering the devastating effects on victims,” (Acar, K. V, 2017). The elderly are completely the opposite in this case. An elderly has lived their lives and their body grows older and weaker and again, because of this fact they are easy to abuse since they do not havae the muscle or strength they once had to defend themselves. Last, but not least a woman. Women aren’t as strong as men, because of our anatomy. Men are prone to grow stronger muscles than a woman. Since this fact is true, they are easy to beat on, because they might fold thinking they cannot beat a male just because of the simple fact of a woman is known to be weaker than the average man.

Gender was the second topic when it comes to being abused. Women are more known to report a case in which they are being abused, but you don’t hear that much when it comes to a man being abused by a female. Women go through emotional and physical abuse more often then a man does in their lifetime regardless if they are a child or an adult. Normally, the person that is known to be abusive is an individual that is close to them. You are more than likely going to be abused by a male you trust that really knows you, because they know your strengths and weaknesses and will use them to their advantage when they see fit.

Race is one of the biggest forms of abuse that we all go through in our lifetime. Regardless if you are white or an African American, you have been subjected to racial abuse sometime if your life. Racial abuse isn’t a specific gender, but more so a color that someone was taught to dislike as they were growing up. Racial abuse has been going on since slavery and even after many people still believe that we are different just because of our cultural background, color or our skin and where we were born.

Social vulnerability is the inability of an individual as well as society, to withstand an impact from various stressful situation that are presented to them. “One common concept in such studies is social vulnerability—human populations’ potential exposure to, sensitivity from and ability to reduce negative impacts from a hazard,”( Paveglio, T., Prato, T., Edgeley, C., & Nalle, D, 2016). A person normally abuses someone that is weaker and the cause could be a stressful situation that was presented to them that they feel really frustrated about and need to take their anger out on someone. So they end up abusing the person closest to them that they know either cannot defend themselves or they are weaker than the abuser.

Economic vulnerability is based on how the community is vulnerable to the different forms of abuse. Most people do things that that has either been done to them or they have witnessed someone in their family do or saw things within the environment in which they have grown up. This could make a community vulnerable, because by someone who is used to abusing someone could cause the community to look bad or someone else might do the samething thinking that it is ok to hurt someone else.

A program that I would open would be a protection program for children, women and the elderly since they are the most vulnerable ones to be abused. My plan would be to teach children their rights on how they do not have to be abused by anyone. Regardless if it is a close family member, relative or a family friend. They have the right to feel safe and not be abused by someone. A risk of a child being a abused could cause the child to grow up mentally and emotionally damaged, because of past experiences. Also, it could cause them to feel so much pain and hatred that they feel it is ok to do it to their kids or loved ones when they get older. One of the issues that being abused can also cause is a barrier. The child could create a barrier which could make it hard for someone who wants to help them with their situation get closer and the child pulls away from fear of being abused again.

For women and the elderly, I would assist in the best way I can so they can feel comfortable enough to express who is doing harm to them so it can be addressed. Elderly and older women know their rights, but lack the courage to take up for themselves. Most women are abused by someone who is taking really good care of them, but the back lash is that fact of being abused by this person and the same goes for the elderly. This creates a big issue, because from the person taking good care of them, they are less likely to report it, because they feel they don’t have any other option. My services will provide them with a safe environment away from anyone that is causing them pain, weather it is emotionally, physically, financially or mentally.

There are multiple treatments that could aid in helping them get back onto their feets after dealing with a stressful situation such as abuse. The best one would be to remove the offending person from the area in which they are abusing others. Another treatment would be group therapy where they can talk it out with others that have or are going through the same situation so they do not feel as if they are alone. Most people who are in denial about being abused need an intervention to help them realize that being abused isn’t something they should keep around in their life.

References

Acar, K. V. (2017). Child abuse materials as digital goods: Why we should fear new commercial forms. Economics Discussion Papers

Paveglio, T., Prato, T., Edgeley, C., & Nalle, D. (2016). Evaluating the Characteristics of Social Vulnerability to Wildfire: Demographics, Perceptions, and Parcel Characteristics. Environmental Management, 58(3), 534-548. doi:10.1007/s00267-016-0719-x

https://www.nap.edu/read/2117/chapter/9