THE PUBLIC MINISTRY IN ELDERLY PROTECTION NET IN NATAL-RN CITY AND THE REFERRALS ABOUT MISTREATMENT COMPLAINTS
elderly people, mistreatment, supervisory agency, public policies.
The mistreatment against older people presents a great representation in Natal-RN.
Given its supervisory role, as well as its articulation within the protection net, the
Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (MPRN) was chosen as a field of
this research. The investigation's proposal turned to analyze the processes relating to
the mistreatment denunciations, which reached the prosecutor's offices specialized in elder
people field, in Natal-RN city. It delimited on profiles of the elderly, the whistleblower,
the aggressor, the situational context and in the tease of other net agencies in protective
measures adopted. The theoretical perspective adopted was the interdisciplinary discussion
of public policy and, in the method, it was adopted the retrospective documentary analysis.
As a result, it was found that the main entrance doors of the denunciations were the prosecutor's
office and the social assistance network. The most frequently mentioned violence were:
neglect, followed by psychological violence, financial violence, abandonment, physical
abuse and self-neglect. It's worth to register that of the selected cases, none of them were of
sexual violence, which may indicate a greater difficulty in identifying and/or reporting this kind
of abuse. Women figured more as victims than men in all age groups. Family members were
identified as major violators, specially the male sons. It was registered the phenomenon's
expression in all the regions of Natal city. Moreover, it was verified the existence of network
communication, both in records of notifications, as the referrals, however, there is no consolidated
flow. In addition, it was observed that the denunciations by the health services were expressed
timidly, which demonstrates the need for investment in communication between the area of health
and supervisory agencies; and it was suggested the proposition of an integrated system of notifications,
to fostering intersectoriality actions, focusing on speed and accuracy in the proceedings in cases of
mistreatment against elderly people.