An adult at risk is anyone over the age of 18 who has care and support needs.
Describing an adult as at risk; should never mean they lack capacity or cannot make their own decisions about their life; instead, it simply means that they may be more likely to experience abuse and may have difficulty to get help and support.
An adult at risk for example, may be someone living with;
- Dementia
- physical disabilities
- a learning disability
- mental health issues
- addictions
- homelessness
- frailty
The perpetrator of the abuse may be a family member, a partner, a friend, a neighbour, a professional, a formal or informal carer another adult at risk, a stranger, and sometimes it could be a group of people.
Abuse can take place anywhere for example, at the victim's home, in someone else's home, in a public place, on public transport, in the street, at college, at day care, residential homes and at hospitals. More recently abuse is taking place via social media.
Abuse and exploitation come in many forms, including:
- physical abuse
- sexual abuse
- psychological abuse
- financial abuse
- neglect and acts of omission
- discriminatory abuse
- organisation abuse
- radicalization
- domestic abuse
- honour based abuse
- elder abuse
- self-neglect
- modern slavery
- cyber bullying
- forced marriage
How to report
You can report a concern online.