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Home › Articles › Safety › Parental Abduction

Parental Abduction

When Parents Kidnap Their Own

By Carma Haley

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  • Various modes of transportation both within the United States and beyond are used to transport the child.
  • Children who are abducted by their own parent are typically done so during weekend, summer or winter holidays.
  • The abducting parent does not typically use force to obtain the child.

    • The Other Side of the Coin
    The typical reasons are not the only reasons a parent may feel they have no alternative but to kidnap their own child. Many believe the justification of parental abduction go beyond any of the reasons listed above as well as beyond the courtroom.

    "Dispelling typical myths that parents who kidnap their own child are doing so to get even with society and/or hurt their ex-spouse has proven quite difficult," says Bonnie Russell, advocate for parental abduction prevention and former victim of a parental kidnapping from Solana Beach, Calif. "While some cases of parental abduction are due to this, it is more the exception then the rule. Other reasons include abuse, neglect, endangerment, unjust hearings or simple injustices. Until the underlying reason parents resort to kidnapping is addressed, no one will understand the subject."

    Some parents feel they have been treated inappropriately before, during or after a custody battle and this treatment played a role in losing custody of their children. For some of these parents, taking their child was their only option.

    Running children."My husband physically abused me for years," says Carolyn Hawkins, a mother of two originally from Medina, Ohio. "And even though I reported him to the police numerous times, had a medical record as thick as a dictionay and had left him twice before, he was awarded custody of my children because he had more money and could hire a lawyer where mine was court appointed. The abuse I suffered led me into a depression and that was used against me in court. What else could I do but get my kids away from him?"


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