According to the Ontario Provincial Police, elder abuse is defined as “Any action or inaction by any person that causes harm or threatens to cause harm to an adult elderly". In 2004, the General Social Survey (GSS) showed that older adults were three times less likely than non-elderly people to experience victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey and that 10% of older adults had experienced at least one victimization in the previous 12 months the investigation. . This shows that violence against the elderly has always been present in every society and its rate is just starting to increase. This is a topic that has usually been kept in the dark and only now are citizens around the world starting to realize that this is actually a form of family violence and that it is not acceptable under any circumstances. The fact that this happens is because the elderly become helpless and dependent on someone, usually their family members. Elder abuse rates are no longer what they were 10 years ago; have increased and the rate at which these abuses occur varies from 2% to 10%. (Lachs, Mark S., & Karl Pillemer. 2004. “Elder Abuse,” The Lancet, Vol. 364: 1192-1263.) Violence against older adults varies from culture to culture and although it occurs everywhere in the world, regardless of Because of their background, not many people knew it was happening, especially when the victims themselves were silent out of fear about the elderly population in Canada there is emotional abuse, followed by financial abuse (Canadian Center for Justice Statistics, 2001b). Yet, another document... at the heart of the document... family violence laws that include abuse within the family, criminal law that includes physical or sexual abuse, adult protection laws that help elders with their needs and adult guardianship laws that deem an elder unable to care for himself. Therefore, these different laws apply to different circumstances. Our society is just beginning to understand what the. Elder abuse and how it affects us. Violence against the elderly occurs in many places. The rate of abuse is constantly growing and so is the number of elderly people in the world. There are many laws and aids that have been created for the safety of the most vulnerable. Elderly victims of abuse around the world have different perceptions of what abuse is but, regardless of their culture, the first step would be to encourage older people to speak out and know their rights and raise awareness about the issue.