The Christmas holiday season is a time for family... and a time for celebrations. As parents, the joy of seeing smiles on our children’s faces is a big part of the holiday but sadly, not all families will be celebrating this holiday season. Instead, there will be thousands of unsuspecting parents and children that are going to be targeted and thrown into the nightmarish world of international parental child abduction… a world that that no parent or child should have have to be exposed to.
Cases of international parental child abduction dramatically increase during the Christmas holidays, particularly the week right after the holiday as the abducting parent often uses holiday travel as part of their abduction scheme with their intent being to never return back to the country of origin with the child. These type of parental kidnappings, which are based on the wrongful retention of a child in a foreign country by one of their parents, accounts for approximately 70% of all international child abductions according to an extensive research study conducted by the I CARE Foundation during the summer of 2014.
In an effort to prevent international parental child abduction, the I CARE Foundation created the International Travel Child Consent Form. This ground-breaking document focuses on abduction prevention due to wrongful retention, and it has been embraced by the legal community around the world along with key stakeholders in the area of abduction prevention.
This season, if you happen to have a child traveling internationally, in particular if you happen to be a family that is at high risk for international parental child abduction – one that is involved in a child custody dispute, separation or divorce, especially if your partner has ties abroad – you must be proactive in protecting your children and utilizing the International Travel Child Consent Form is one of the most effective ways to do that. Often, parents that are involved in international child custody disputes and who may be targeted for abduction think that their child is best protected from abduction when there is a court agreement in place for the child to return if the other parent is granted travel. The truth is that unless there is an international travel consent form that has immediate ramifications attached to it, the parent and child targeted for abduction are at serious risk. The I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form can help protect a parent and child in this type of situation.
This season, if you happen to have a child traveling internationally, in particular if you happen to be a family that is at high risk for international parental child abduction – one that is involved in a child custody dispute, separation or divorce, especially if your partner has ties abroad – you must be proactive in protecting your children and utilizing the International Travel Child Consent Form is one of the most effective ways to do that. Often, parents that are involved in international child custody disputes and who may be targeted for abduction think that their child is best protected from abduction when there is a court agreement in place for the child to return if the other parent is granted travel. The truth is that unless there is an international travel consent form that has immediate ramifications attached to it, the parent and child targeted for abduction are at serious risk. The I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form can help protect a parent and child in this type of situation.
Thanks to the overwhelming success of the I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Consent Form in preventing international parental child abduction associated with wrongful retention, our Hague Child Abduction Convention inspired travel form for minors has been translated and is now available (for free) online in over 20 languages from around the world. Early in 2015 it will be available in every official language spoken by each signatory country of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention.
Visit the official I CARE Foundation website to see the translations that are currently available. If you should have any questions regarding the form please contact the I CARE Foundation at legal@theicarefoundation.org
The simple fact is that when a child is parentally kidnapped they should be considered in grave danger - immediately! International parental child abduction is a crime that can involve the physical, emotional and psychological abuse of a child. A child that tragically becomes a victim of a parental kidnapping suffers both short and long-term psychological effects, even if the child is reunited with their other parent.
A parent that is capable of abducting their own child typically has long-term psychological problems making them a real danger to their child. A child's well-being is typically not something that is a consideration of the abducting parent. A U.S. Department of State report specifically states, “[The] profile [of an international parental child abductor] is the sociopathic personality.” The United States Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) stated, concerning the sociopathic behavior of abductors, “As with paranoid and delusional parents, sociopathic parents are unable to perceive their children as having separate needs or rights. Consequently, they often use their children blatantly as instruments of revenge or punishment or as trophies in their fight with the ex-partner. Hence, the sociopathic parent believes that domestic violence and child abduction can be perpetrated with impunity.”
If you happen to be unfamiliar with the term “filicide”, it is the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own child, and is serious concern when we speak of international parental child abduction. Dr. Phillip Resnick, the Director of Forensic Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland stated in an article that was published by the Denver Post a few years ago about parental child killing, “Historically, one out of 33 homicides is a parent killing a child younger than 18.” Dr. Resnick, who conducted a study on filicide in 2005 states “Filicide, the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own child, is the third-leading cause of death in American children ages 5 to 14.” As well in this Denver Post report was that fact that, “Researchers estimate 250 to 300 children are murdered by their parents each year in the U.S.”
So when we talk about the reality of filicide... parents murdering their own child... and combine that with a statement released by the FBI that shares the increased rate of non-custodial parents threatening to harm their own children all with the intent of revenge against the other parent who most likely has been given legal custody... do we need to be even more concerned about the fact that there are still thousands upon thousands of children each year being targeted for international parental child abduction? You be we do!
All these facts support what the I CARE Foundation has been saying for some time: Children that are parentally abducted are being murdered. And this only emphasis the fact that we need to prevent international child abduction! So, outside of utilizing the International Travel Child Consent Form if you have a child traveling abroad, what else can you do to prevent abduction?
Well, it is essential that all parents know the WARNING SIGNS of international parental child abduction and as well what to do if international parental child abduction is in progress.
As shared earlier, we see a dramatic increase in the number of international parental child abduction cases during the Christmas holidays. Many times, as part of their elaborate scheme, the would-be-abductor can use a family vacation for the holidays as a guise for their plan to abduct the child from their country of origin. Planning a family vacation could potentially show their partner that they are willing to work on their relationship despite any issues that may have happened in the past. This is part of the life of deceit that a would-be-abducting parent lives… all while planning how to get their child abroad.
A common scenario might go something like this: The would-be-abducting parent tells his/her partner that they would like to plan a trip to a foreign country… perhaps their country of origin… maybe to visit a sibling or parents over the holiday season. Once the family arrives in the foreign country, the abducting parent might file false allegations of abuse and neglect against the other parent and then notify the other parent that they and the child will not be returning back to the country of original jurisdiction. At this point, the targeted parent, who didn’t suspect any of this, is generally forced to return back home without their child where they then need to seek legal assistance.
Being aware of the warning signs could realistically help protect you and your child from the cruel and unforgivable world of international child abduction… a world that no parent or child should ever have to be exposed to.
Visit the official website for the I CARE Foundation to learn more about the risks and warning signs of international parental child abduction and what you should watch for.
It is important to note as well that there are two critical programs available to U.S. parent citizens that may aid in the prevention of their U.S. child citizen from being internationally abducted.
Prevent Departure Program (PDP)
In the past, American parents at risk of having a child illegally removed from the United States had to deal with the reality that it was extremely difficult to stop an international child abduction if the other parent possessed a right of American citizenship (sole or dual citizenship). Part of the problem is that the United States has limited exit controls and government published information regarding programs that could be utilized to stop international parental child abduction such as the Prevent Departure Program require a suspected international parental child abductor to not have a right of American Citizenship, among a host of other requirements.
Today, parents who are at risk of having a child internationally abducted by a parent who possesses citizenship to the United States or who has dual citizenship may be able to protect their children from abduction.
If you should happen to be an at-risk parent that believes your child’s other parent is planning or is in the process of an international parental abduction, please contact the United States Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues Abduction Prevention Bureau to discuss potential measures that may be available to you to ensure the individual parent suspected of an international child abduction threat does not illegally depart the United States and remove your child in violation of a court order or in breach of your right of custody.
To contact the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues Prevention Bureau please contact:
The United States Department of State
Office Of Children’s Issues
Abduction Prevention Bureau
CA/OCS/CI
SA-17, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20522-1709
Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP)
One of the Department of State’s most important tools for preventing international parental child abduction. Parents are able to register their U.S. citizen children under the age of 18 in the Passport Lookout System. If at some point a passport application is submitted for a child that is registered in the CPIAP, the Department of State contacts and alerts the parent(s). This system provides the parent(s) with advance warning of possible plans for international travel with the child.
The Charleston Passport Center is responsible for administering the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program:
U.S. Department of State
Passport Services, Charleston Passport Center
Attn: Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program
1269 Holland Street, Building D
Charleston, SC 29405
To learn more about international parental child abduction, or to DOWNLOAD your FREE copy of the International Travel Child Consent Form, which is currently available in 20 different languages, please visit the I CARE Foundation website.
If you suspect an international parental child abduction is imminent or if one is in progress, CLICK HERE.
All of us at the I CARE Foundation would like to wish you the best of the holiday season!