International child abduction

This article is about International child abduction. For child kidnappings for ransom and other forms of international child exploitation, see Child trafficking.

Conflict of laws and
private international law
Preliminaries
Definitional elements
Connecting factors
Substantive legal areas
Enforcement
Family law
Family
Marriage and other unions and status
Validity of marriages
Dissolution of marriages
Children's issues
Private international law
Family and criminal code
(or criminal law)

The term international child abduction is generally synonymous with international parental kidnapping, child snatching, and child stealing.[1]

In private international law the term usually refers to the illegal removal of children from their home by an acquaintance or family member to a foreign country. In this context, "illegal" is normally taken to mean "in breach of custodial rights" and "home" is defined as the child's habitual residence. As implied by the "breach of custodial rights," the phenomenon of international child abduction generally involves an illegal removal that creates a jurisdictional conflict of laws whereby multiple authorities and jurisdictions could conceivably arrive at seemingly reasonable and conflicting custodial decisions with geographically limited application.

Abduction by a parent often affects a child's access and connection to half their family and may cause the loss of their former language, culture, name and nationality, it violates numerous children's rights, and can cause psychological and emotional trauma to the child and family left behind.[2][3] The harmful consequences for children and families have been shown in several studies and child abduction has been characterized as a form of parental alienation and child abuse.[4] The modern day ease of international travel and corollary increase in international marriages is leading to a rapid rise in the number of international child abductions.[2]

  1. ^ HON. WILLIAM RIGLER and HOWARD L. WIEDER (2000). "THE EPIDEMIC OF PARENTAL CHILD-SNATCHING: AN OVERVIEW". US Department of State. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "2010 Compliance Report" (PDF). Travel.state.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  3. ^ Ernie Allen. ""The kid is with a parent, how bad can it be?" The Crisis of Family Abductions" (PDF). National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  4. ^ Parental Child Abduction is Child Abuse Archived 2012-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. Nancy Faulkner, Ph.D. Presented to the United Nations Convention on Child Rights in Special Session, June 9, 1999