Senior randomly attacked on Downtown Eastside, now she’s scared to go out alone – BC
Safety concerns on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are growing as seniors who live in the community say they have seen an increase in attacks recently.
Gabriella Molnar is 93 years old and was walking back to her home on Alexander Street last month when she says a man struck her on the head in an unprovoked attack.
“There is, nobody was on the street,” she told Global News. “Not a single person. So then he just maybe he was between the cars, I hadn’t seen.”
Molnar said she was able to keep walking but the suspect followed her until some people heard her screaming and they came out and helped chase him away.
“I was screaming and crying and maybe screaming Hungarian,” she said. “Swearing a bit in Hungarian.”
Molnar has lived in the area for 35 years and says she still goes out but the neighbourhood has changed and she worries more about going out on her own now.
“I don’t know what should be done, you know?”
Molnar reported the incident to police but she did not require medical attention.
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Jenny Konkin, president and co-founder of Whole Way House Society where Molnar lives, told Global News that sadly, this is not a one-off incident.
“We’ve now had multiple seniors come forward telling us about being assaulted who’ve lived here for decades,” she said.
“This is their home, and they really feel that they can no longer go outside.”
Konkin said that seniors like Molnar like to go outside and walk every day and since the attack, she has not been comfortable going outside by herself.
“At Whole Way House, our entire purpose is to help keep people active, engaged in the community, independent,” Konkin said.
“When you can’t even go outside of your home, that defeats the entire purpose.”
Konkin added that recently a 98-year-old woman was randomly attacked when someone came up and hit her in the arm with a stick multiple times.
“When she came home, we wanted to report it to the police. We would help her. She was embarrassed,” Konkin added.
“She didn’t want to be any trouble, and she felt she felt like she would have to prove to the police her case. And so I think with seniors especially, we need to stand up for them. We need to speak on their behalf and advocate for them.”
There is a big senior population in the Downtown Eastside because that is where a lot of affordable housing is located.
“I would say seniors are becoming our most vulnerable population in this neighbourhood,” Konkin said.
She said that many seniors do not feel safe doing things on their own so Whole Way House has organized group trips to the food bank, the bank and other places so seniors can feel independent.
“When we found out that they’re being targeted on pension day outside of the bank, we started driving them,” Konkin said.
Const. Tania Visintin with the Vancouver Police Department said what happened to Molnar is a huge concern.
“There are a lot of people in the Downtown Eastside that you don’t hear about because they get lost in the chaos,” she said.
“But this is a perfect example of a pensioner, someone who doesn’t in any crime that lives in the community. And that’s not feeling safe.”
Visintin said that is why they launched Task Force Barrage last week to help get more police officers on the Downtown Eastisde.
“The main goal of Project Barrage is to get extra officers, create more of a physical presence, investigate the serious crimes that go on there and hold those offenders accountable.”
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