Pandit: Challenges of aging heaviest for women

By Richard Doty

Pandit, who has served as an adviser to the United Nations on human rights issues, was the keynote speaker at the May 21 conference at IUPUI on “Older Women, Health and Human Rights: International Perspectives” which was sponsored by IU and the Population Resource Center of Washington, D.C.

“Older women constitute a growing population, and therefore, challenges of aging have primarily become the challenges of women,” Pandit said. These challenges include economic insecurity, because in many countries the older population is prevented from engaging in gainful employment. Pension and social security systems are geared to men because women are not regarded as “breadwinners.” With the women outliving the men, they are forced to cope with increased responsibilities with a reduced income.

Pandit said the current image of seniors as a burden on society has been created by demographers and economists and “blindly” used by the media.

“There is an urgent need to change this image and establish the fact that except for a small proportion, most of the people who are 60 or above can take care of themselves while being productive and participate in the decision-making process,” she said. “Our seniors are a tremendous treasure of trained and experienced manpower, and a cultural heritage of humanity.”

Between 2000 and 2020, those over age 50 will increase by 66 million in developing countries and 332 million in less developed countries.

The presentation by Pandit included a response from selected IU faculty on international and domestic law that affects older women, how the news media covers older women, health and human rights, and the role of nursing homes and caregivers. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the issues raised that have applications for local and Indiana residents.

 Several IU departments assisted with the event, which was coordinated by Barbara Hawkins, director of the IU Center on Aging and Aged, and Brian Winchester, director of the IU Center for the Study of Global Change.

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