Advocates with the NWT Senior Society say ending Elder abuse can begin with awareness and prevention rooted in community knowledges.
Community experts from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuvik Justice Committee, the Yellowknife Senior Society and the NWT Seniors Society are planning to hold a panel discussion on the issues at stake for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
Willy, who is executive director of the NWT Seniors’ Society, said this is the first time a panel discussion of this nature will be taking place in the territory.
Organizers say using a community development approach, the event aims to raise awareness of elder abuse across the NWT.
Shirley Kisoun, an Elder and Trained Facilitator from Inuvik, Betty Tetso, an Elder and Trained Facilitator from Deline and Amy Whynot of the Justice Committee in Inuvik are scheduled to take part as panelists with Willy moderating the discussion.
The discussion will focus on the effectiveness of elder abuse prevention and intervention programs, drawing from on-the-land perspectives, restorative justice and community. Organizers say using a community development approach, the event aims to raise awareness.
“We’re looking to talk about programming. We want to know also what the challenges are of implementing these programs and then are there programs in either jurisdictions around restorative justice that might be helpful for the N.W.T. and what are the next steps that we can all work together on to explore this topic further,” said Willy.
The idea is we want this to be an ongoing dialogue and we want to see more people involved,” added Willy.
The event is scheduled to take on place on June 15 at 1:30 p.m. MT
Anyone who would like more information can contact the NWT Seniors’ Society at 1-800-661-0878, head their facebook site or register via their Zoom link
