Child abduction cases have rocketed by 47% in 12 months as more parents look to halt their ex-partner’s access to children, figures released by reunite International Child Abduction Centre have shown.
In 2011 reunite handled 512 new abduction cases, and according to Alison Shalaby, reunite's Acting Director, “It is concerning that we have seen such a large increase in the number of children abducted, especially as we know this is just the tip of the iceberg - many cases go unreported either to ourselves or government departments”.
"There are many reasons why a parent may abduct their child. For some it may be a deliberate act to deny the other parent contact, for others there may be sociological or economic factors, or in some instances a parent may abduct their child out of fear for the child's safety,” she added.
“Whatever the reason, parental child abduction causes real harm to children who potentially suffer great emotional trauma by suddenly being ripped away from all they know and being denied contact with their left-behind parent and extended family.”
According to reunite, in 70% of cases, the mother was the abducting parent and more needs to be done to ensure the emotional wellbeing of children from broken homes is taken into account.
"For the left-behind parent the shock and loss are unimaginable and they face unfamiliar legal, cultural and linguistic barriers when seeking the return of their child," said Ms Shalby.