Abuse of older people ‘hidden behind closed doors’ as demand for help rises 18% in Northern Ireland.

Hourglass Deputy Chief Executive Veronica Gray warns that abuse in later life remains dangerously under-recognised ahead of the opening of the ground-breaking charity's first Northern Ireland office in Lisburn.

The abuse of older people in Northern Ireland remains dangerously under the radar, with new figures revealing that 92% of abuse reported to specialist charity Hourglass took place in victim-survivors' own homes.

The warning comes from Hourglass Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy, Veronica Gray, ahead of the official opening of the charity's first Northern Ireland office in Lisburn on Thursday 15 October.

New figures from Hourglass reveal an 18% increase in Northern Ireland service-users seeking support during 2025/26, with economic abuse, including the exploitation of savings, pensions and property, emerging as the most frequently reported form of abuse.

 

Analysis of cases handled by the charity in Northern Ireland during the last financial year reveals:

• 92% of reported abuse took place in the victim-survivor's own home.
• 65% of abuse was perpetrated by family members, with adult children responsible for 42%.
• 40% of reported abuse involved economic exploitation, with an average financial loss of £17,000 among victim-survivors affected by economic abuse.
• More than half of older victim-survivors experienced barriers to seeking help, including fear, difficulty recognising abusive behaviour and feeling they had exhausted their options.

 

The charity's findings add to growing concerns about the experiences of older victim-survivors across Northern Ireland.

Figures highlighted by the Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland show that police-recorded domestic abuse cases involving people aged 60 and over more than doubled between 2014/15 and 2023/24, rising from 639 to 1,419. While increased reporting and awareness may partly explain the rise, the figures demonstrate the growing demands on services responding to abuse in later life.

Across the UK, Hourglass has previously estimated that approximately 2.7 million people have been affected by the abuse of older people, with around one in five older people experiencing some form of abuse.

 

Veronica Gray, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy at Hourglass, said:

"What concerns us most about these figures is how much abuse remains hidden within families, relationships and people's own homes. We are seeing more older people seeking our help in Northern Ireland, but there is every reason to believe that many more are experiencing abuse without ever coming into contact with specialist services.

"When the person responsible is somebody you love, trust or depend upon, asking for help can be extraordinarily difficult. We hear from older people whose savings have been taken, whose independence has been eroded or who have experienced neglect and controlling behaviour at the hands of family members.

"An older person may desperately want the abuse to stop, but equally desperately want to preserve their relationship with a son or daughter, remain in their own home or retain the care they depend upon. Our responses have to recognise those complexities rather than expect older victim-survivors to fit into systems that were never designed with their particular circumstances in mind.

"Northern Ireland has an opportunity to make real progress, but we need to understand the scale of the problem, recognise the barriers to reporting abuse and ensure specialist support is available when people need it. For too long, the abuse of older people has been overlooked or dismissed as a private family matter. That has to change."

 

The charity sees this as a growing challenge for Northern Ireland and the scale of the challenge is likely to become increasingly significant as the population ages.

Official projections published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency show that the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to reach 375,600 by mid-2027, exceeding the number of children under 16 for the first time. The population aged 85 and over is projected to more than double between 2024 and 2049.

However, Hourglass believes that substantial gaps in the recording of abuse and adult safeguarding information make it difficult to establish how many older people are affected across Northern Ireland.

The charity is calling for greater investment in specialist support, better collection of safeguarding and crime data, and stronger recognition of the particular circumstances of older victim-survivors.

The opening of its new office in Lisburn, eleven years in the making, will strengthen Hourglass's presence in Northern Ireland, providing a shared base for its team and supporting closer working with statutory agencies, political representatives and community organisations.

The opening event at the Haslem Hotel will bring together senior political representatives and safeguarding leaders, with Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA, Lagan Valley MP Sorcha Eastwood, Commissioner for Older People Siobhan Casey and Hourglass Northern Ireland Patron Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick attending.

Guests will also receive a first look at Hourglass's forthcoming 2027 Northern Ireland manifesto, which sets out six priorities for improving the safety, independence and protection of older people, including effective adult protection legislation, economic safety, specialist services and better evidence about the prevalence of abuse.

 

Veronica Gray added:

"Our new office represents an important milestone for Hourglass, but our ambition extends far beyond Lisburn. We want to work with partners across Northern Ireland to ensure that older people experiencing abuse are recognised, listened to and supported, wherever they live.

"We have spent eleven years working towards this moment. What matters now is using that commitment to help bring about lasting improvements for older victim-survivors."

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors

Hourglass is the only UK-wide charity dedicated to ending the abuse, harm, exploitation and neglect of older people aged 60 and over.

Hourglass operates a free, confidential 24-hour helpline on 0808 808 8141.

The Northern Ireland statistics are drawn from Hourglass service-user records for the 2025/26 financial year and describe people and abuse reported to the charity, rather than population-wide prevalence.

The new Northern Ireland office will serve as a base for the charity's team and partnership activities. It is not being launched as a public walk-in centre.

 

Media enquiries:

Veronica Gray, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy
veronicagray@wearehourglass.org
07496 663816

Richard Robinson, Chief Executive
richardrobinson@wearehourglass.org

07807 229447

www.wearehourglass.org

 

Hourglass is a registered charity in England and Wales (1140543) and Scotland (SC046278).