Some people think we don’t need dedicated rights for older people.
They claim that our existing human rights – to life, liberty, freedom of opinion and expression – are enough.
That might make sense if all humans were treated the same.
But we know, don’t we, that all humans are not treated the same.
And while there are global frameworks that make sure you can’t discriminate against a person because of their race, sex, nationality, religion, language or ethnicity, there is no such framework when it comes to age. Instead, individual governments can or cannot create their own laws and policies which may, or may not, be adequately enforced or upheld.
Which means, in practice, millions of people are penalised simply for being older.
There are jobs for which we are qualified but no longer get, doctors can treat us based on our age rather than our symptoms and for many, society slowly closes its door with every passing year.
These are what we calling ‘ageing penalties’and few are as severely penalised as older people, especially women, living in low- and middle-income countries.
As the #OlderNotOver campaign evolves, we’ll be talking more about ageing penalties and calling on you to help us end them.
For now, take a look at some of our work and thinking around ageism and you’ll see that ageing penalties are part of a much bigger onion!
