The Deputy Protector of Citizens for Gender Equality, Jelena Stojanović, stated this evening that the elderly persons in the Republic of Serbia belong to the most vulnerable category of the population and called on them to actively participate in exercising all the rights that belong to them.
"Elderly persons, especially elderly women in the countryside, have difficulties in accessing the health, social and other services in the community. They are often exposed to abuse and violence in the economic, social and physical sense, and for this reason I invite them to actively participate in the exercise and protection of their rights when they feel that they have been violated", said Stojanović at the opening of the photo exhibition "The Beauty of Aging 2".
At the opening of the exhibition organized by the association "Amity – Strength of Friendship" on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, Stojanović called on all elderly persons to contact the Protector of Citizens if they are exposed to any kind of abuse or if they cannot fulfil their rights before the competent authorities.
The Deputy Protector of Citizens added that the most common problems faced by the elderly are poverty and violence, as well as neglect within the family, including disposal of property without their consent and difficulties in exercising the right to help and care of another person.