What is IPCA?

International Parental Child Abductions - What is it? Why you should care?

Most societies recognize crimes against children, however lines are blurred when a crime is committed by a parent or a family member, instead of a stranger. 

International parental child abduction ("IPCA"), is the illegal removal of children from their home by a "taking" parent to a foreign country. The taking parents is either violating existing custodial order or custodial rights of the other parent (children are taken without the other parent's consent), and wrongfully retained in a foreign country. 

   * IPCA is child abuse and a crime against children, perpetrated by a parent, not a stranger;
   * Children are deprived of the love and affection of the parent left behind, often subjected to sustained mental manipulation to believe the parent left behind is the cause of their problems, and robbed of their sense of security, leading to parental alienation and other consequences;
   * Taking parent resorts to "forum shopping" to thwart laws of the child's home country. Cases often take years to resolve, victimized children and families often suffer emotion, psychological and financial trauma.
 
Victims often struggle to get the support they need from law enforcement, government officials and society at large, who fail to recognize IPCA as a crime. In the United States and most western countries, Governments have enacted laws against parental child abductions. India has not, as such children abducted to India are rarely returned.

Each year more than a 1,000 American children are reported abducted from the United States to other countries. Between 2010-14, 6,000 cases were reported. Less than 40% of the abducted children are returned.

According to the FBI's annual report on missing children, about 467,000 missing children entries were recorded in 2014. About half are "run-away" children. Approx. 40% (based on 1999 research) are children victims of "family abductions". Remainder of the entries relate to children victims of stranger abductions and others. 

While data for international parental child abductions ("IPCA") isn't tracked by the FBI, based on historical trends, assuming 10-12% of the "family abductions" are IPCA related, an estimated 18,000-22,000 American children could be victims of IPCA based on 2014 data.

In a globalized, interconnect world, the laws of one nation impact those living in foreign nations. Today India is the Top 3 destination of international parental child abductions from the U.S. and U.K. 

Yet, the United States nor India have engaged seriously to remedy the human tragedy, the proof of which lies in the ever increasing volume of unresolved abductions cases to India, over 50% of them pending for five (5) years or more. 

The alarming rate of child abductions to India and the lack of India’s cooperation in resolving these cases, point to decades of public policy missteps emanating from India and from the neglect of the United States to protect interests of American children and families.

​Challenges Victims of IPCA face in re-uniting with their Children who are abducted to India

  • India is widely referred to as a "safe haven" for abducting parents who take advantage of a favorable Indian judicial system, and face no consequences for their wrongdoing;
  • Parental child abduction is not recognized as a crime in India, judges decide abduction cases on arbitrary basis, wrongfully asserting jurisdiction on foreign nationals and Non-Resident Indians(NRIs);
  • Indian courts choose to re-litigate custody decisions already made in the best interest of the child by courts where the child resided prior to the abduction, children are rarely returned to their countries of habitual residence;
  • Cultural and gender bias are pervasive in Indian society, the Judiciary isn't immune. Abducting mothers commonly file false cases of domestic violence (DV) and dowry (IPC 498A) against their husbands and in-laws, which cause severe hardships, including incarceration of American victims of IPCA. Many Indian Judges and victims have described the misuse of these laws as "judicial terrorism";
  • Litigants in Indian Courts face long and costly delays, left behind parents rarely get access to their children, thus children are systematically alienated from their left behind parent.

The United States hasn't done enough to help victims of IPCA

  • Successive U.S. Administration have failed to end years of human suffering and deliver justice to victimized American children and left behind families.
  • While international parental child abduction is recognized as a crime in all 50 U.S. States and also a Federal felony (18 U.S.C. 1204), victims of IPCA face enormous challenges, due to lack of coordination and responsiveness from various government agencies.
  • The United States lack exit controls, i.e. children traveling with one parent do not require written authorization from the other parent, nor do airlines voluntarily require proper documentation at the time of booking the tickets or when the child boards the flight. Thus, a 4 oz. bottle of shampoo will not make it on the plane, but a parent travelling with children will make it every single time; 
  • The U.S. Depart of State ("DoS") is the Central Authority under the Hague Convention, but prevention of IPCA and return of abducted children requires swift and coordinated response from the DoS, the U.S. Depart of Justice ("DoJ") and the U.S. Department of Home Land Security ("DHS"). However over the past 30 years, victims have found these agencies have not provided the assistance required under multiple laws in the United States, including law enforcement's failure to register/prosecute abduction cases, DoS failure to aggressively pursue foreign governments to promptly return of abducted American children;
  • The U.S. Congress has recognized the severity of the issue, hardships faced by victims, and unanimously passed the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, 2014, which was signed into law by President Obama in August 2014. However even 12 months after the passage of this act, the Administration's implementation has been spotty at best.
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