POLICY & RESEARCH

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Brief : July 2025

UK Covid Inquiry: Hourglass Feedback

"Older victims of abuse were locked in and left behind". Hourglass feedback to module 10 (impact on society) of the COVID-19 inquiry roundtable.
Policy Brief : July 2025

Ageism: Paving the Way for Abuse and Violence

Human ageing is imbedded within social factors, social relationships, and social constructs, and linked to ideas around the wider community and the self; until death happens - ever...
Written Evidence : February 2025

Hourglass' View on the End of Life Bill

Overarchingly, Hourglass has a neutral view on the proposed Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. We understand and support the need for older people to be able to make choices...
Policy Brief : November 2024

Policy, Practice and the Law

Economic abuse is one of the most common types of abuse in later life. Economic abuse is a crime and should be treated as such. Suffering economic abuse as an older person can have...
Research : November 2024

The Economic Abuse by the Numbers

Economic abuse is a crime, and older people are key victims and victim-survivors of such abuse. But this abuse and the costs to the victim, society and the economy are hidden and a...
Policy Brief : September 2024

Understanding the Perpetrators of Abuse

Should victim support services focus solely on the victims of crime? Or can investigating perpetrators of abuse and violence help organisations better support victim-survivors and ...
Manifesto : June 2024

The Hourglass Manifesto

The Hourglass Manifesto outlines the overarching measures which Hourglass believes the governments should adopt in order to create a Safer Ageing Society by 2050.
Research : January 2024

The Economics of Abuse 2024

Economic Abuse is a complex yet common form of exploitation encompassing financial harm, and an abuser or perpetrator restricting a person’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain m...
Research : January 2024

Sexual Abuse Against Older People in NHS Hospitals

The original research into this topic in 2021 was inspired by a lady called Valerie Kneale. Valerie passed away in Blackpool Victoria Hospital in November 2018, initially thought t...
Policy Brief : December 2023

30 Years Anniversary of Safeguarding

The overarching principle of the charity is that older people experience the same forms of harm and abuse as all other demographics, including financial/economic, physical, sexual ...
Policy Brief : December 2023

Issues and Movements Concerning Safer Ageing

This briefing assesses movements, issues, and legislation in Scotland concerning safer ageing and the protection of older people from all forms of harm, violence, abuse, and neglec...
Policy Brief : October 2023

Sexual Abuse of Older People

Sexual abuse and violence against older victims is underrecognised and underreported. Ageist attitudes about sexuality are barriers to understanding and help-seeking. There is a la...
Policy Brief : August 2023

Older Male Victims – Stereotyped Harm?

Abuse and violence against older male victims is underrecognized and underreported. Male specific factors can be barriers to seeking help or support. Lack of health and support ser...
Policy Brief : August 2023

Cost of Living Crisis: Pensioners in Poverty

The cost of living crisis has concerning implications on the economic and physical wellbeing of older people in the UK.
Policy Brief : April 2023

Poverty in Later Life: Structural & Interpersonal Violence?

Around 2.1 million (18%) pensioners in the UK currently live in poverty, and one million of these older people live in severe poverty (below 50% of the median), as well as this, 11...
Policy Brief : June 2022

Predatory Marriage: What Can We Do to Prevent it?

Predatory marriage is a form of economic abuse, wherein marriage is a cover for exploitation and economic gain. It can have a devastating psychological and mental health impact on ...
Research : December 2021

Safer Ageing Index Part 1: Last in Line

After a year and a half of living through lockdowns, being isolated from families, friends and loved ones, being confined to homes, stark new findings from Hourglass show that olde...
Policy Brief : October 2021

The Implications of Data Collections

There is an absence of regular, comprehensive data on violence and abuse of older people in the UK. The response to abuse in older age sits between the domestic abuse response, hat...
Policy Brief : October 2021

Suicide and Self-Harm Among Older Adults

Older adults face barriers to domestic abuse support services and mental health support services. ‘Ageing well’ has been a guiding principle in relation to older people’s mental he...
Policy Brief : October 2021

Domestic Abuse of Older People

Public awareness and professional understanding of domestic abuse of older people needs to be improved. Public information campaigns need to reinforce the reality that domestic abu...
Policy Brief : October 2021

A UK-Wide Approach to Adult Protection

Under present legislation in England, situations may arise where a social worker cannot access an adult at risk to conduct a private interview where there is suspected abuse.
Research : September 2021

Economic Abuse Awareness

An analysis of Hourglass and Hodge Bank's economic abuse survey.
Research : January 2021

Sexual Abuse Against Older People in Hospitals

This research was inspired by a lady called Valerie Kneale. Valerie passed away in Blackpool Hospital in November 2018, initially thought to be due to a stroke. However, a post-mor...
Policy Brief : December 2020

Improving Justice Outcomes for Older People

Criminal justice outcomes for all older victims of crime need to be improved. The current system deters and intimidates older people at all stages of the process, from reporting an...
Policy Brief : December 2020

Should Age be a Protected Characteritic?

Age should be included as a protected characteristic in hate crime legislation in all four nations of the UK. Such a step is important to keep the topic of abuse and crime towards ...
Research : January 2020

Older Voices of the Pandemic

In order to better understand the human voices behind the data, and hear the lived experiences of older people during the pandemic, subsequent lockdowns and periods of restrictions...
Types of Abuse

Psychological Abuse

Psychological or emotional abuse involves threats of harm, bulling and harassment and other behaviours or acts of coercive control which deliberately try to scare, humiliate, isola...
Types of Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is any intentional act or behaviour causing injury, trauma or other physical suffering or bodily harm. This includes instances of fabricated or induced illness or ca...
Types of Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse involves any non-consensual sexual act or activity perpetrated against an older person. Such acts can include rape or attempted rape, sexual assault, involving an olde...
Types of Abuse

Neglect

Neglect occurs when a person deliberately withholds, or fails to provide, suitable and adequate care and support needed by an older person. It may be through a lack of knowledge or...
Types of Abuse

Economic Abuse

Economic abuse is where someone in a position of trust interferes in an older person’s ability to acquire, use or maintain their finances. It is always a crime but not always prose...
Types of Abuse

Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse, or domestic violence, is any incident of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intima...
Safer Ageing Index

The Safer Ageing Index - London

Hourglass Safer Ageing Index is a groundbreaking research project to assess the current state of ageing, examine policy and identify barriers to achieving safer ageing for all olde...
Safer Ageing Index

The Safer Ageing Index - Wales

Hourglass Cymru's Safer Ageing Index is a groundbreaking research project to assess the current state of ageing, examine policy and identify barriers to achieving safer ageing for ...
Safer Ageing Index

The Safer Ageing Index - Northern Ireland

Hourglass Northern Ireland's Safer Ageing Index is a groundbreaking research project to assess the current state of ageing, examine policy and identify barriers to achieving safer ...
Safer Ageing Index

The Safer Ageing Index - England

The Safer Ageing Index for England, which suggests significant issues in the South West and North of England, underlines that addressing the needs and challenges faced by the growi...
Policy Brief

Abuse & Housing Support: A Protective Measure?

The idea of safe houses and housing support to assist those experiencing domestic abuse in the UK was first developed in the 1970s. At the time, domestic abuse was still a hidden f...
Policy Brief

Safer Ageing Policy in a Pandemic UK

The continued public health restrictions and lockdowns introduced to combat COVID-19 pose an acute threat to older people by undermining human rights and exacerbating their risk of...
Research

What Does Growing Old in the UK Look Like?

Every year, more than a million older people are physically, emotionally, financially or sexually abused in the UK. This is a truly damning indictment of how our society views and ...

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