Child abductions – Separating facts from fiction
WORLDWIDE | Thursday, 9 August 2007 | Views [2205] | Comments [3]
The abduction of children naturally generates a great deal of public concern. Crimes such as the alleged kidnapping of four-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal and the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2003 are among the most notorious and highly publicised stories in recent history, occupying a central place in the fears and anxieties of parents everywhere. The abduction of a child is a crime that devastates families and traumatises entire communities. However, wider fears are exacerbated by considerable uncertainty over how frequently such crimes occur, which children are most at risk, and who the perpetrators tend to be.
At the heart of the problem is confusion about the definition of kidnapping. While lengthy ransom abductions and the tragic recovery of bodies has shaped the public’s perception of the crime, in a strict sense kidnapping also involves both short-term and short-distance displacements, acts common to many sexual assaults and robberies. Kidnapping occurs whenever a person is taken or detained against his or her will, and includes hostage situations – whether or not the victim is moved. Moreover, kidnapping is not limited to the acts of strangers but can be committed by friends, by romantic partners, and, as has been increasingly the case in recent years, by parents involved in acrimonious custody disputes.
Confusion about child kidnapping has also been aggravated by the absence of reliable statistics. In the United States, for example, kidnapping is not one of the crimes included in the FBI’s national Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, and individual states and other jurisdictions have rarely made any independent tally of kidnapping statistics. As a result, a national picture of this crime from a law enforcement perspective is unavailable. Although the UK does compile national statistics on child abduction, the figures are slightly skewed by the Principal Crime rule, which stipulates that the crime of child abduction is not statistically recognised if a more serious crime is committed in the course of the abduction. For example, if a child is abducted and then murdered, only one offence of homicide is recorded in the national statistics.
However, despite these issues it is possible to draw a relatively accurate picture of both countries' child abduction environments. Firstly, it must be noted that in Europe and North America kidnapping only accounts for a tiny proportion (typically only around two percent) of all violent crimes against juveniles, and is dwarfed by much more common crimes such as simple and aggravated assault, robbery, theft and sexual offences. In the UK, Home Office statistics state that there were some 1,028 child abductions in England and Wales in 2004/2005. However, it is thought that more than half of these abductions were ‘attempted’ abductions, in other words the abduction was not successfully completed. In the US, the Department of Justice estimates that there are some 200,000 abductions and attempted abductions each year within the United States. However, the majority of these abductions are family kidnappings, committed primarily by parents who, in the course of custodial disputes, take or keep children in violation of court orders. This type of child abduction also accounts for about a quarter of all child kidnapping incidents in the UK.
In terms of stereotypical ‘stranger’ kidnappings, where a non-family member takes a child, the numbers are far lower than one might expect. This type of kidnapping, which is often widely reported in the press, terrifies parents everywhere and is the most psychologically and physically harmful to the child. However, there are only around 60 to 70 successful child abductions at the hands of strangers each year in the UK, accounting for less than eight percent of child abduction incidents. In America, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children asserts that between 3,000 and 5,000 child abductions occur at the hands of strangers each year. In both countries the majority of stranger abductions are sexually-motivated, and the crime is perpetrated most commonly by males aged between 20 and 39. The offender will also tend to live alone or with their parents, hold a relatively low-paid job and have previous convictions for crimes against children – mostly of a sexual nature. Statistically, the most common abduction mechanism involves the child being lured into a vehicle, although violent abductions are not uncommon. There have also been increasing incidents of offenders impersonating social service officials or health professionals in order to gain access to children. Most perpetrators live near their victims or will have valid reasons for being at the scene of the crime, either through some form of social or work activity, and in many cases the abduction will be simply a crime of opportunity. Statistics for child kidnappings perpetrated by strangers suggest that both teenagers and primary school-age children are targeted and that females are more frequently taken than males.
Although the statistics demonstrate that child abductions are a comparatively rare occurrence, particularly the highly-publicised and feared stranger kidnappings, this will offer little solace to parents affected or bereaved through such incidents. Despite its rarity, the threat does clearly exist and parents will naturally remain concerned for the safety of their children. However, both the threat and worry can be minimised by good security practices. red24 advises parents to instil in their children, at an early age, an awareness of the threat and how to respond to it. Children should be taught never to approach an unknown car or individual, and to run from any stranger who approaches. Parents should also employ an attitude of suspicion when it comes to strangers, and caution should be exercised by parents when allowing unknown individuals access to the home. For further information on child abduction trends, advice on protecting your children and what to do in the event that your child should go missing, please contact a security specialist at red24 for personalised advice.
Tags: travel safety, red24, abduction
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