From a State-Centered Approach to Transnational Openness: Adapting the Hague Convention with Contemporary Human Rights Standards as Codified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Abstract

Parental kidnapping is an increasing problem throughout the world and the social consequences of globalization have made international child abductions more frequent. In the United States alone, the Department of Justice states that 354,100 children are reported to have been abducted by a family member in a single year. Estimates indicate that one in five parental kidnappings involves a child being taken across international borders. The United Kingdom states that in the last three years there has been a “58 percent increase in the number of international parental child abductions.” In 2000, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which handles all U.S. international child abduction cases, reported 1,697 international abductions, up 66.7 percent over 1999. The increase of international child abductions has been attributed to the increasing access of international travel and rising divorce rates. International ab-