01/08/2025
Golsum, our North Dandenong Neighbourhood House Coordinator, was recently interviewed by SBS Dari to speak about the important issue of elder abuse.
Golsum began her involvement with Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria in 2023 after completing her elderly abuse training program. Since then, she has taken on the role of educator, regularly delivering information sessions to a wide range of community groups and providing valuable feedback and insights to ECCV.
One of the key concerns Golsum raised early in her involvement was the lack of elder abuse resources available in the Dari language. In communities such as the Afghan community, the concept of elder abuse is not widely recognised, which often leads to it being unreported and unaddressed. Many older individuals are highly dependent on younger family members and often experience social isolation because the abuse is frequently perpetrated by someone close and trusted, many elders remain silent to avoid bringing shame to the family. The previous lack of accessible resources in Dari was a significant barrier to addressing this issue. Thanks in part to Golsum’s advocacy, ECCV has recently expanded its elder abuse resources to include five additional languages—Dari among them. As a result of her continued engagement, ECCV connected Golsum with SBS Dari, leading to her recent interview during the second week of the school holidays.
