Many children who are abducted to other countries by parents are never returned to the United States. When a parent is left behind after a child has been abducted to another country faces terrible obstacles to finding and recovering the child.
A Parents who abducts their child to other countries are not that different from parents who abduct their children to other States. They often have young children. They usually have support from family or other individuals for what they are doing. They usually have a bad relationship with the other parent, and may have bad feelings about their relationship with the child. Some are convinced that their actions are justified because they believe they rescued their child from the hands of an abusive parent.
Many of the parents feel isolation from American society, and separation and divorce have increased their sense of hostility. Some are running away from domestic violence, while others are controlling and abusive themselves.
1 comment:
I would beg to differ that it is most likely that a VAST amount of these parents believe they MUST abduct to protect the child.
I am one such parent. I was in hiding for over 2 years. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done, and I just cannot imagine that very many people would go through such an ordeal if they didn't absolutely have to.
I'm not saying I don't believe it happens. I do believe it happens, and I'm so sad for those children and left-behind parents as well!!
But it is most fair to say that many, many moms (usually moms) run because the family court system no longer will protect their children from being raped.
In my case, it was the social services rep who TOLD me to run, because she knew that despite the fact that their agency knew my daughter was "at LEAST at medium risk of being victimized again", that they would do NOTHING to protect her. She was 19 months old at the time.
It would have been criminal for me to HAND HER OVER TO HER ABUSER in that case, wouldn't you agree? Not criminal to protect her. Can you imagine, a 19 month old child being raped? Can you?
For those who's children have been taken from them when they never did anything to harm them, I think that is absolutely criminal, and heartbreaking, and so wrong.
But I sure wish more people would be open to the truth that many parents run to legitimately protect their children, not because we are "convinced" they are being abused (that insinuates that we're delusional, don't you think?), but because we KNOW it. And the judges KNOW it, and the police KNOW it, because the hospital staff KNEW it and called them! And CPS KNOWS it, and they child therapists KNOW it, and the attorneys KNOW it. We don't just conjure some ridiculous story out of thin air. I would NEVER want my child to believe she had been sexually abused if she HAD NOT!! what kind of craziness is that? It's astounding to me that people would even assume that about a protective parent.
I came back 13 years ago, and shortly thereafter regained SOLE custody of my daughter. He was allowed to abuse her again though, thanks to our family court system.
I don't believe any progress will be made for either side of the issue, until we are all willing to genuinely and sincerely accept that both types of parental abduction scenarios are very real, not imagined.
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