This applies, in different forms, in each of the four countries of the UK. An offence of kidnapping can be recorded for both child and adult victims.
Abduction can be recorded for child and adult victims. More information on the law and child abduction is available in our briefing paper: Child Abduction: The Legislative Jigsaw.
Not all children who are abducted perceive themselves to have been victimised. For example, some children who are taken by a parent do not identify either themselves as a victim of abduction or the parent as an abductor. In other cases, individuals may be abducted but more readily identify themselves as victims of a sex offence, robbery, or assault etc. Each year in the UK police forces record more than offences of child abduction.
These include completed abductions where a child is actually taken and attempted abductions. However, many more incidents go unreported to the police [link to briefing paper on Surveys] and some may not be recorded. See Police-recorded crime briefing [link].
Over four-fifths of completed abductions recorded by the police involve a perpetrator known to the child. Many more cases of international parental child abduction go unreported to the police.
Nearly 60 per cent of completed abductions recorded by police are perpetrated by someone known, but not related to, the child. Many cases involve exploitation or grooming. This agreement is known as the Hague Convention. To check whether a particular country has signed the Convention click here. If a child has been abducted from the UK, there are two International Conventions that assist a parent in tracing and returning their child. The Conventions are known as:.
These Conventions have created a network of countries who work together with the intention in most cases to return the abducted child back to their place of residence. The countries that have joined the Conventions are known as Contracting States. The aims of the Hague Convention are:. To rely on the Hague Convention, the child must be under 16 and have been habitually resident in one contracting state and taken to another.
The Central Authority of the country where the child is shall take all appropriate steps to obtain the voluntary return of the child. If this is not possible, court proceedings can be bought. After the 12 month period, it is more difficult for the child to be returned as the child may be settled in their new environment. A defence is available to wrongful retention under Article 13 b of the Hague Convention if it can be established that the child would be exposed to physical or psychological harm, or otherwise placed in an intolerable situation, if the child was made to return to the resident country.
Like the Hague Convention, the European Convention binds all the contracting states into working together to return the abducted child back to his or her place of residence. If a child has been taken to a country that is not a joined state to either convention, it is more difficult to have the child returned.
When a child is abducted to a Non Convention country, there is not a network of authorities working together to ensure the return of the child. A parent who wants their child returned to the UK will either have to come to an arrangement with the other parent, or start legal proceedings in the country where the child has been abducted to.
However, there are still things that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can do to help. The Child Abduction Unit can give advice and provide practical help when dealing with authorities overseas.
Legal Aid A form of funding from the government for legal representation. This is means tested in most areas, with the exception of when a child is subject to care proceedings, where legal aid is available to a parent regardless of a person's income.
You may be able to get Legal Aid A form of funding from the government for legal representation. Where a child has been abducted from a country party to the Hague Convention and brought to the UK, Legal Aid A form of funding from the government for legal representation. This will be as of right without a means or merits test. For more information on legal aid see our information pages on legal aid for family law matters.
There is no legal definition of habitual residence; it is a question of fact where a person can be considered to be living their life.
There must be a breach of arrangements made with respect to the child otherwise the removal or retention of the child is not illegal for the purposes of the Convention. Where the parent has regular contact and exercises their parental nature with the child, this can amount to custody within the Hague Convention even though there is no order from the court to prove this.
Because of this, some unmarried fathers without Parental Responsibility will be able to claim custody rights under the Hague Convention. If a child has been abducted it is important to start proceedings as soon as possible otherwise the child may settle in their new environment. Once a child is settled it is harder to remove the child as it may be in their best interest to remain. Reunite International Child Abduction Centre. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. If you are a young person who requires advice and information click here to visit LawStuff , our website dedicated to providing advice and assistance to young people.
This information is correct at the time of writing Jan 25, pm. The law in this area is subject to change. Individuals may print or photocopy information in CCLC publications for their personal use.
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By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies. For more information on our privacy policy and the use of cookies on this site, click here: Privacy notice. The average age of abducted children in the UK was 13, while the average age of children who suffered attempted abductions by non-parental perpetrators was 11, according to the report.
Action Against Abduction claims that most of these cases are sexually motivated, yet many attempted abductions are not reported to police. Geoff Newiss, chief executive of Action Against Abduction, said the "old fashioned scenario" of a man luring a young girl into a car has not changed all that much. The charity's report found that in , three quarters of stranger abductions involved girls and more than two-thirds of stranger abductions involved a perpetrator in a car.
However, he said: "People tend to think of the very worst case scenarios - the Sarah Payne case or April Jones. They tend to think about murder. But there are a very small number of homicides". Both eight-year-old Sarah Payne and five-year-old April Jones were abducted and killed by paedophiles in and respectively.
Mr Newiss pointed to the "varying degrees" in severity of abductions, and of stranger-related offences. He said: "Most are, or believed to be, sexual exploitation", but he said that the majority involve indecent exposure, touching or fondling.
The study, which was based on a questionnaire completed by 2, children in the north-west England, found that nine out of 10 reported abductions were attempted and not completed. Latest figures from the NSPCC's Childline helpline show that the internet is increasingly being used as a gateway for offenders to commit crimes including sexual assaults, sexual exploitation and grooming.
Across the board, the number of child sex offences reported to the police throughout the UK rose to a record 45, last year, according to the NSPCC. Following the abduction of the Oxfordshire schoolgirl on Wednesday, an NSPCC spokesman said: "This has been a horrific experience for the girl and her family and parents in the area will understandably be very worried, but thankfully random abductions of children are relatively rare.
The problem is that many attempts go unreported, said Mr Newiss. He estimates that one in every children face an abduction attempt at some point in their childhood or teenage years. They can't do anything if it's not reported".
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