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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:50 am
Time: 11:50 am
Results for kidnapping, parental
3 results foundAuthor: International Social Service, Australian Branch Title: Living in Limbo: The Experience of International Parental Child Abduction: The Call for a National Support Service Summary: Apart from high profile cases of parents abducting their children to other countries, little is generally known about the extent and impact that International Parental Child Abduction has on children and families. The incidence of these abductions is greater than official government figures reveal. Only abductions which occur between Australia and countries which have signed the Hague Convention into the Civil Aspects of Parental Child Abduction are recorded. Abductions involving countries not a party to the convention are not counted. There is also no official recording of attempted cases which do not eventuate. Abductions occur when relationships have failed and usually where the parents come from different cultural backgrounds. Domestic violence, a deep sense of unfairness about contact and access arrangements, intense fear of losing the child and disagreement about the other parent’s cultural beliefs relating to child rearing are common reasons for parents choosing this regrettable path. There are serious emotional consequences for the abducted child taken from all that is familiar, most usually to the parent’s country of origin. As the child is already dealing with the breakdown of the family unit, this additional trauma can cause emotional problems which if not treated in an ongoing way, can have lasting consequences. The left behind parent also suffers considerable grief, anger and guilt which will affect ongoing relationships with other children as well as children who have been abducted. The abducting parent is also usually in need of therapeutic help. The legal remedy available through the Hague Convention of seeking to have the child returned to the country where he or she lived habitually prior to the abduction aims to achieve a fair process. There is also an underlying premise in the Convention that matters relating to the custody of children are rightly the responsibility of the national jurisdiction where the child habitually lived pre-abduction. The Convention process cannot however comprehensively address the post traumatic stress experienced by family members or the underlying issues which led to the abduction. Growing concerns about the impact of abduction, particularly on the children but also the parents and recognition of the limitations of a legal response prompted the Commonwealth Attorney- General’s Department to fund a project to consider the viability of establishing a support service. International Social Service Australia undertook this project and this paper outlines key findings. International Social Service is a non-profit organisation which operates through a worldwide network of offices in over 140 countries. Core work relates to child welfare issues involving Australia and another country. Their work is also guided by International Conventions focusing on children and families. The report recommends that a support service be established. The service will comprise an advice line, make referrals to specialist agencies, lawyers and experienced parents. It will also conduct community education and training and undertake research and advocacy. The report concludes that as the service complements the work of International Social Service Australia, it is an appropriate choice for the location of the service. Details: Melbourne: International Social Service, Australian Branch, 2005. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2010 at: http://www.missingpersons.gov.au/Assets/Files/9bb6de98-a9ab-436f-8c08-cb63c21ff155.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Australia URL: http://www.missingpersons.gov.au/Assets/Files/9bb6de98-a9ab-436f-8c08-cb63c21ff155.pdf Shelf Number: 119717 Keywords: Child CustodyChild ProtectionKidnapping, ParentalParental Child Abduction |
Author: Dalley, Marlene L. Title: The Left-Behind Parents' View of the Parental Abduction Experience: Its Characteristics and Effect on the Canadian Victims Summary: The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the characteristics of parental abductions, including the financial difficulties experienced by the searching parent and the trauma experienced by the abducted child. Since both the study about left-behind parents, and about abducted children, involved the same sample group, it was decided the best approach was to gather this information from both groups in the same questionnaire. The study was limited to left-behind parents who contacted not-for-profit agencies for help finding their missing children. The not-for-profit agencies whose clients participated were Child Find Canada provincial offices, the Missing Children’s Network of Canada and the Missing Children Society of Canada. In most cases, the questionnaire was limited to information about one child in a family who went missing, except for factors like the age of the child. In seven cases, more than one child went missing. Forty-eight questionnaires were sent out and 19 returned. The number of children abducted was 28. This study found that over half the couples were separated or divorced when the child was abducted. Prior to the abduction, over half the child victims had a much better relationship with the abductor than did the left-behind parent, who rated their relationship as poor. All the children in this study were living in Canada at the time of the abduction, but 63 per cent were taken outside Canada. More children were located in the United States than other countries. Over half of the left-behind parents’ reported there was a known reason or connection to the place where the child was eventually located. Furthermore, an abduction act is not usually an impulsive act but a premeditated type conspiracy. Most abductors work alone during the actual “snatching” but after the event has happened they receive help from family, friends and relatives. At the time of the abduction, 75 per cent of the left-behind parents had a custody order. Over half the left-behind parents made a Hague application for the return of their children to Canada and found this process useful. Five of the 12 abductors who fled to another country were extradited back to Canada. This study showed that Canadian law enforcement took a longer period of time than law enforcement in other countries to find the missing child. Fifty-three per cent of the Canadian children were found in less than one year, while it took more than 1 ½ years to locate the other 47 per cent. Other researchers reported that most of the children were recovered in a few months. Details: Ottawa: National Missing Children Services, national Police Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2007. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2010 at: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pubs/omc-ned/leftbe-laisderr-eng.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Canada URL: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pubs/omc-ned/leftbe-laisderr-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 119721 Keywords: Child AbductionKidnappingKidnapping, ParentalMissing Children |
Author: European Parliament. Directorate-General for Internal Policies. Policy Department C Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs Title: Cross-border Parental Child Abduction in the European Union Summary: Upon request by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), this study aims at analysing the international, European and national legal framework applicable to cross-border parental child abduction, with a view to proposing recommendations for the improvement of the current system. In light of available statistics and case law, five recurrent scenarios giving rise to child abduction legal disputes have been identified. One common scenario is the wrongful removal of a child, which results in the reversal of the balance previously settled in a judicial decision for the exercise of parental rights. A judicial "fast track" through the "automatic" enforcement of foreign decisions on return prescribed by EU Regulation 2201/2003 can be said to have improved the regime of the existing Hague Convention on Child Abduction. In turn, case law shows that when child abduction takes the form of an "illegal transfer of a child's primary residence abroad" by the primary care-giver, national courts tend to explore more in-depth the "best interests of the child". The development of appropriate structures of mediation in order to organise the transfer of a child's residence abroad with one of the parents should prevent "abductions" and improve, in most cases, the relationship between the parents having joint responsibility for the child. In addition to a preventive mediation scheme, a remedial mediation scheme is proposed. If, despite the preventive and remedial mediation schemes, a request return is brought to court in complex situations, it is important to avoid contradictory decisions by the EU judges in the jurisdiction of the present and the former place of residence of the child and to allow careful analysis of the overall situation of the child. To this end, a "joint-decision" reached through the active cooperation of specialised national courts within the EU is proposed. This involves special judicial training - with language and intercultural skills - for international family disputes. Details: Brussels: European Parliament, 2015. 415p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2016 at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/510012/IPOL_STU(2015)510012_EN.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/510012/IPOL_STU(2015)510012_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 137838 Keywords: Child CustodyChild ProtectionKidnapping, ParentalParental Child Abduction |