As the numbers climbed in the suicide statistics, the information dried up, the the system shut up, the media was gaged under the pretext that talking about the issue would cause copycat fatalities and unnecessary deaths, and for decades a few – at least a few us – fought against a determined administration that did not want to confront the issue … and when we did start to open the discussion there was a determined effort and the political will to find some advantage for women, and divert the funding sources away from the most affected male group of fatalities.

I am sure most readers will be aware of the numbers of aged we have now as a result of the post war baby boom years (1945 to the mid 1960s) that often feature in retirement-age discussions. Recently we have seen the sharp end of the ‘Elder Abuse’ issue through court cases featuring neglect and financial misappropriation by family members.

Am I the only one that notices when you flick through a magazine article that paticular mention is made of the abuse being at the hands of family members?

My thoughts head in the direction, not of secrecy as such, that we have seen with suicide, but selective release of information and also what qualifies as elder abuse.

The discussion has been broached on Menz before in the form of boarding houses and low cost accommodation for abandoned males. Remembering for a moment the quantities of work and financial support that many men have provided during their life that is perhaps unrecognised because of their removal from the their family at some stage in their life.

It becomes convenient not to recognise this now in the context of elder abuse as the culprit is the state or the funding mechanism and legal system responsible.

Most importantly the issue is not one that will resolve itself or promote itself without a fight from men. There will be an increasing number of men who fall under some convenient political label that disguises the fact the administration has had a major role in the final outcome of many men’s lives.