노인의 인권강화를 위한 노인학대 관련 법률의 합리화 방안

The number of elderly people older than 65 in Korea is 7.68 million, accounting for 14.8% of the total population (as of 2019), and keeps increasing as life expectancy has been extended to 82.7 years. With such an increase in the elderly population, the problem of elder abuse is also increasing. In Article 34 (4) of the Constitution, it is stipulated that 'the state should make efforts to improve the welfare of the elderly and young people.' This is when the state has to prevent elder abuse, which destroys the dignity of individuals through the act of abuse, and when it is necessary to cooperate with each institution, civic groups, and central elderly-issue-dedicated organizations in active prevention activities and responses based on local communities. The actions for elder abuse has been focused on post-response, which is passive rather than active, and the elderly human rights consciousness is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the immediate problems that should be addressed in the prevention of elder abuse and to devise improvement measures in terms of human rights. In order to achieve this purpose, we first examine the human rights situation of the elderly, examine the legal system that is in place to prevent elder abuse, and propose measures to improve the human rights of the elderly. Therefore, the paper attempts to find out the problems in the legal system and find ways to improve and revise them. The issue of elder abuse is a barometer of human rights in modern society. I hope this paper will serve as an starting point to build the groundwork for setting the direction for elderly human rights.