Child Abduction

32 Billion Dollars- That is the estimated revenue of human trafficking in the world. A large chunk of these are vulnerable children. Human Traffickers have launched a full-scale hunt on children. Pedophiles and child porn Industry which are flourishing like never before (thanks to the cheap and easy internet) has added fuel to the child abduction and trafficking. Children are an easy target for these predators and traffickers as they are naïve and vulnerable.

Due to the increasing practice of international child abduction, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was published in 1980, and duly incorporated into the Brazilian legal system, with the purpose to establish a set of uniform rules to be adopted by the signatory States in order to cease the unlawful detention of an infant in a foreign territory. However, Brazil has been seen as an noncompliant country, since its Judiciary completely depletes its effectiveness when analyzing the concrete cases and amplifying the exceptions for a return. Thus, hermeneutical techniques are proposed to be observed for the salutary application of the Convention, as the Safe Return Theory.

As a complex and expanding global problem, international child abduction causes many legal consequences. Although the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction, adopted in 1980, sets the grounds for cooperation of relevant state authorities in order to provide prompt return of the abducted child to the state of his or her habitual residence and protect his or her best interests, numerous other issues such as criminal liability of parents, protection of child's rights and protection of right to family life, arise therein. The authors of this paper highlight different etiological and legal aspects of international child abduction and discuss the link between this phenomenon and other similar offences such as: abduction, human trafficking, trafficking in minors for adoption and domestic violence with special focus on Serbian legislation. The authors also point out the most disputable issues regarding international child abduction in the practice of European Court of Human Rights and key dilemmas in practical implementation of national and international frameworks for its prevention.
Key words: international child abduction, case law, European Court of Human Rights, Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction, return of children

The term ‘protective mothers’ is used in the literature on child abuse to refer to women who take proactive steps to protect their children from abuse and violence. Protective mothers who take children overseas to bring violence or abuse to an end are increasingly finding themselves the subject of a petition under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention). The Hague Convention was formulated in the late 1970s prior to widespread recognition of the role of abuse and violence in separation and divorce. It requires the prompt return of children taken from one signatory country to another with only narrow and limited exceptions. This paper argues that the Hague Convention has the effect of trivialising domestic violence and child abuse and perpetuating stereotypes of protective mothers as mentally ill and malicious. One website for protective mothers calls this experience ‘getting Hagued’.  This paper will examine how the Hague Convention has misunderstood the gendered nature of international child abduction before going on to analyse the impact of ‘getting Hagued’ in two important Australian cases of international child abduction.

The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all over the globe; from South Africa to Finland and from Colombia to China the world suffered immensely. The huge number of civilians’ and combatants’ deaths led to a parallel increase in the number of treaties. From the Geneva Conventions of 1864 to the Hague Conference of 1907 and from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to the Additional Protocols of 1977 the law governing armed conflicts steadily developed. However, the fall of the Berlin wall and the consequences of the 9/11 attacks changed the world order. From the Yugoslavian war to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Syria the acquis of the past were put into question; humanitarian emergencies have become more complex than ever, parties to the conflict do not hesitate to violate the laws of war, humanitarian principles are challenged, access to humanitarian organizations is denied and, the most important, civilians are paying an extremely high death toll.

According to several reports, the number of civilians’ victims of armed conflicts, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (I.D.Ps) and people in need of treatment has rapidly increased. Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Central African Republic (CAR) are some of the main contemporary humanitarian emergencies were civilians rights, as described in International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and other corpus of law, have been violated. However, one of the most appalling issues is the consequences of war on vulnerable populations and, more specifically, on children.

Child recruitment and their use as child soldiers, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access are the most important challenges that children have to face and the international community seems unable to react.

Keywords; children, protection, child recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, denial of access, attacks on schools and hospitals, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights Law

Word count; 34.987

Provisional and Protective Measures in family matters need special consideration because they are not limited to economic matters and significantly interfere with the self-determination of persons and often of vulnerable persons, namely children. This circumstance explains the exceptional regime of the Brussels II ter Regulation as compared to the general regime of the Brussels I and Lugano systems.
The article also deals with the problem of the law applicable to provisional measures, in the absence of a specific European rule on this matter. We argue that, whenever a provisional or protective measure is taken by the judge who will not rule on the substance of the matter and especially in cases where the measure is provisional and anticipates the merits, judges should avoid the application of the law of their forum and apply the law applicable to the substance to the provisional measure they are required to issue.

In several recent decisions on cases concerning the international abduction of minors the European Court of Human Rights set the requirement of an «in-depth examination of the entire family situation» in order to comply with Article 8 ECHR. The present article considers the ef- fects of such principle on the role and on the proceedings of both the court of the State of the child’s habitual residence and of the court of the State of his refuge after abduction, especially when acting in the frame of Brussels II Regulation. While the requirement of «in-depth examination» seems overall synergetic to the role of the court of habitual residence, also when such court is judging on the return of the abducted minor pursuant to Article 11(8) Reg. 2201/2003, deeper concerns arise with reference to the role of the court of the State of refuge. When such a court is asked to enforce a decision for the return of the abducted child, the possible violation of the child’s fundamental right in the State of origin might raise the question of opposition to recognition and enforcement. The article thus endeavours to find a solution balancing the child’s fundamental rights and EU general fi- nality to strengthen the area of freedom, security and justice.

The child’s habitual residence is becoming one of the most important jurisdictional criterions in the area of private international family law. The adoption as the primary basis of jurisdiction under the Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (Brussels IIbis), confirms its significance. However even after one hundred years of its first use in the substantive law Hague Convention on Guardianship of 1902 still two things remain. First still it is considered as a factual concept and as a consequence, most of the legal sources that deal with the private international law haven’t provided for a definition. In recent years following the A (Case C-523/07)(2009) ECR I-2805 this position has changed because of the assumption that the ECJ reached for “…need for uniform application of Community law and from the principle of equality” and that the “terms of a provision of Community law which makes no express reference to the law of the Member States for the purpose of determining its meaning and scope must normally be given an autonomous and uniform interpretation throughout the European Community”.  Also in another case, Rinau  it was affirmed that the 1980 Hague Convention was adopted on the basis that the interests of children and that the guiding principles of the conventions are taken over, in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility, by the Regulation.  In the Advocate General Kokott opinion delivered on 29 January on the “A” case, held the position which was rendered in the Rinau case and stated that “Both provisions pursue the aim that abducted children should return immediately to the State in which they had their habitual residence before the unlawful removal. That coordination also makes a uniform understanding of the concept of habitual residence necessary”.
This article provides for analysis of the practice of the Hague Conference of Private International Law and tries to give the insight of the thirty year of implementation of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention and the problems that have emerged from it. This will help in creating a uniform application of this jurisdictional criteria and a uniform understanding of the concept of habitual residence. Also this article gives comparative insight of a recent phenomenon that is happening in the national codifications of the Private International Law that is the emergence of definitions of the habitual residence.

This paper analyzes the aplication of the 1980’s Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in Brazil. The Convention provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted from one member nation to another. It was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting state not their country of habitual residence. This paper will address the Sean Goldman case, since it refers to a legal dispute involving custody of a boy who was born of a Brazilian mother and an American father. It will be discussed the principle of the child’s best interest under the Brazilian and American point of view and how the Brazilian Government has complied it through the handover of the child to the American father, in accordance with the international diploma already mentioned.

Сажетак: Рад се бави масовним отмицама и нестанцима људи на Косову и Метохији. Феномен отимања људи познат је одавнина и могло би се рећи да је процес дугог трајања. Феномен отмица на територији Косова и Метохије може се пратити од османлијског освајања, па до скорије историје. Међутим, од 1998. године, од почетка оружаног сукоба између албанске паравојне формације тзв. Ослободилачке војске Косова и оружаних снага Савезне Републике Југославије појављују се, поред појединачних, и масовне отмице и нестанци. Масовне отмице нису непознате у историји. Захваљујући Титу Ливију и Плутарху, из ране историје Рима познат нам је мит о отмици Сабињанки. Масовне отмице се данас све више користе као средство за постизање политичког циља. У последњим годинама свет узнемирују вести о масовним отмицама људи од припадника Боко Харама и тзв. Исламске државе. За масовне отмице и нестанке људи на простору Косова и Метохије одговорна је тзв. Ослободилачка војска Косова. У периоду од 1998. до 2000. године тзв. Ослободилачка војска Косова је ради терора користила масовно отимање људи као ратну тактику која је имала за циљ стварање атмосфере страха, небезбедности и неравноправности. Неспокојство које је створено масовним и појединачним отмицама и нестанцима људи доводило је до расељавања српског и другог мањинског становништва са Косова и Метохије.

Bojan Djokic, MASS ABDUCTIONS AND DISAPPEARANCES IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA 1998-1999.

Summary: For the largest number of abductions and disappearances
in Kosovo and Metohija is responsible the so – called Kosovo Liberation
Army. Mass kidnappings and disappearances in the period from 1998 to 2000 produced an atmosphere of fear, insecurity, inequality and anxiety among the Serbian and other minority populations, and as an end result and their ethnic cleansing. Persons of Serbian and other minority nationalities were abducted on a national basis from chauvinistic motives. Ethnic Albanians were abducted, mostly because they are accused of socializing with Serbian population and
for “collaboration”. These reasons also affected the international relations which have significantly deteriorated. The psychological effect that is created abductions and disappearances of people significantly affected at the freedom of movement of citizens. The Kosovo Liberation Army did not accept responsibility for the abductions. Command of the Kosovo Liberation Army claimed that it was
a lawful arrest, which are regulated by the legal acts of the organization,
although they had no basis in domestic nor international law.
The largest number of kidnapped and missing persons were civilians which the Kosovo Liberation Army ranks among the terrorist. Due to their nature, the majority of kidnappings committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army it is a weight form of the criminal offense of kidnapping. Mass kidnappings and disappearances began in February 1998 and were happening every month from April until the end of 1998. The highest number of kidnappings in 1999 was made in June, July and August, or after the withdrawal of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia state authorities from the province and the arrival of international military and civilian mission, but also a large number of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the province. Violence and terror, including the kidnapping, have led to the ethnic cleansing of Serbian and other minority populations. During 2000, there were cases of kidnapping and disappearances of people, but their number is negligible compared to the previous year.

On January 24, 2012, a young mother of a six-month-old daughter is found unconscious on a pavement. Her pram is empty, there's no trace of the child. The woman cries: Someone kidnapped my baby! A nationwide search begins. The media report it day and night, calling for clues and witnesses of the crime. A climate of horror and fear blankets the small town of Sosnowiec, Poland. People participate in a family drama. After ten days, the mother shows the place where she's buried her daughter. She confesses the girl died when she had slipped from her mother's hands and hit her head on the floor. The mother was so scared that she hid the baby's body under stones in a park and then orchestrated the kidnapping. She lied out of fear. People are shocked. A victim turns into a villain. The media websites experience record numbers of visitors who participate in discussions of the case (e-mails, comments, impressions). The marketing of horror is fuelled by emotions. The case study represents everything: hope and despair, sympathy, solidarity (at the beginning) and love, finally dread, disgust, and loathing demonstrated in the media. This chapter discusses the role of the media in reporting tragedy and shaping negative emotions. The content analysis of press reports, websites and special editions of television programs was conducted to investigate the dynamics of horror as reported by the journalists, the changing images of fear. The chapter focuses on a family drama that could happen anywhere. Horror is not only the domain of fiction, literature and films. It sometimes makes headlines, changing the lives of our next-door neighbours, ordinary people like that loving couple from the little town in the south of Poland.

This chapter focuses on both Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The author shows that Kony led the violent group in Uganda without any clear political or ideological objectives. Kony legitimized his authority through extreme violence, religion, spirit mediums, and rituals based on self-ascribed spiritual duty, but he also provided some socio-economic security to his followers. The forced recruitment of thousands of Acholi children and the leader’s aspiration to have total control over the population rather than over a specific territory distinguishes Kony as a warlord. Once more, lack of political will and military competence have undermined the government’s ability to confront the LRA.

La existencia de una sociedad cada vez más internacionalizada, junto con el aumento en los últimos años del problema de la violencia doméstica, está dando lugar a nuevos casos de sustracción internacional de menores a los que el Convenio de La Haya de 25 de octubre de 1980 tiene que hacer frente. Los juzgadores tienen el deber de adaptar el Convenio a la sociedad actual y, concretamente, a aquellos casos en los que la sustracción internacional del menor se produce en un contexto de amenazas y violencia doméstica, encontrándose con el
problema de la falta de regulación expresa. No obstante, el Convenio sí nos ofrece mecanismos donde encuadrar estos supuestos. Dentro de las excepciones al retorno del menor, que sería la regla general y principal objetivo del Convenio, nos encontramos con la posibilidad de rechazar el retorno en caso de poner al menor en grave riesgo o en una situación intolerable, o en caso de que el retorno sea incompatible con los principios fundamentales en materia de derechos humanos y libertades fundamentales. Estas dos excepciones, contenidas en el artículo 13.b y 20 del Convenio de La Haya de 25 de octubre de 1980 respectivamente, son las que nos pueden ayudar a hacer frente a este nuevo desafío y ofrecer una auténtica protección tanto al menor, como a la madre sustractora.

According to the news published by different media, from the 1950s to the 1990s in Spain, there was a criminal network in different hospitals all over the country devoted to stealing new-borns to give them away through illegal adoptions while informing the biological family that the baby had passed away. It was an allegedly highly profitable business, deeply rooted in Francoist and post-Francoist society. Although more than a thousand claims have been brought before Spanish tribunals, not a single case has yet been proved, and the first judgement delivered will need to be revised since new evidence has shown that it was not a child abduction but an irregular, though consented, adoption. Nevertheless, Parliament recently started discussions on an ambitious law to address these cases. In this article, the different measures adopted by the judiciary, legislative and executive branches to confront these accusations are examined, presenting the unexpected results that have been obtained thus far. In a second part, the considerable legal challenges in prosecuting the illegal conduct are addressed, namely, the conflictive characterization of such conduct according to Spanish law and the applicability of statutory limitations. The paper finishes with a critical analysis of the first judgement delivered on the matter.

One of the three durable solutions to mass displacement preferred by leading agencies is that survivors return to their home communities. It is believed that families and communities provide the best hope for recovery and reintegration owing to familiarity, care, and shared culture. Yet, these ‘places of hope and comfort’ can also be, potentially, a hostile environment in which stigma can flourish. Women who were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda find that achieving meaningful reintegration into their communities is a distant prospect despite being the home culture they once shared. The stigmatisation of formerly abducted persons by home community members who have never been abducted renders them ‘outsiders’ upon return. Meaningful relationships with fellow community members and access to cultural, social, and economic systems are hampered by the women’s traumatic past. This experience has significant implications for these women, negotiating their journey to recovery and reintegration into home communities

This paper explores the current judiciary interpretation by Australia's Family Courts to the "grave risk of harm" exception to a child's return under Article 13 (b) of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of international Child Abduction (Convention).

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar as exceções ao retorno imediato do menor à residência habitual em função da subtração internacional e criticar a possibilidade de interpretação extensiva ao artigo 13(b) da Convenção sobre os Aspectos Civis do Sequestro Internacional de Crianças (Convenção de Haia) de 1980, quanto à inclusão da violência doméstica como exceção. Para tanto, em um primeiro momento, se discorrerá sobre a criação da Convenção, suas principais regras e diretrizes vigentes. Em um segundo momento, serão expostas as exceções ao instituto da restituição da criança ao seu Estado de origem. Por fim, será dado foco à exceção de risco intolerável e à hipótese de violência doméstica, de forma a avaliar se se trata, de fato, de exceção, ou extensão interpretativa da Convenção, uma
vez que não necessariamente o menor também sofra da mesma violência. Para essa análise, serão analisadas algumas decisões de tribunais estrangeiros e nacionais, identificadas no decorrer da análise bibliográfica sobre o tema, efetuando-se análise crítica a respeito do enquadramento jurídico (ou do que ele deveria ser) da violência doméstica à luz da Convenção, sempre considerando o melhor interesse da criança, um conceito, ainda, pouco claro.

Παρατηρήσεις στις:

• ΜονΠρΘεσ 345/2015
(44, 45, 46 § 1 και 56 § 1 στ. α΄ ΕΚ 4/2009)
Αίτημα για παροχή νομικής αρωγής για την κήρυξη εκτελεστότητας αλλοδαπής (Γερμανία) πράξης ανάληψης υποχρέωσης διατροφής. H αρμόδια αρχή του κράτους μέλους στο οποίο υποβάλλεται η αίτηση δεν δύναται να αρνηθεί τη χορήγηση νομικής αρωγής, εφόσον κρίνει ότι η αίτηση είναι προδήλως αβάσιμη. Δεν εφαρμόζεται εθνικό δίκαιο ως προς τις προϋποθέσεις εξέτασης της οικονομικής κατάστασης του αιτούντος ή του βάσιμου της αίτησης. Δέχεται την αίτηση.

• ΜονΕφΘεσ 2056/2015
(ν. 2102/1992, 126 § 1 εδ. ε΄ ΚΠολΔ)
Διεθνής απαγωγή τέκνων. Κεντρική Αρχή στην Ελλάδα το Υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης. Νόμιμη κλήτευση Ελληνικού Δημοσίου· υποχρεωτική η επίδοση τόσο στον Υπουργό Οικονομικών όσο και στο αρμόδιο όργανο που εκπροσωπεί το Δημόσιο στη δίκη αυτή. Αυτεπάγγελτος έλεγχος. Απαράδεκτη η συζήτηση της έφεσης λόγω πλημμελούς κλήτευσης Δημοσίου (επίδοση μόνο στον Υπουργό Οικονομικών).

• ΜονΕφΘεσ 2254/2015
(95 ΠτΚ, 126 §1 εδ. δ΄ ΚΠολΔ)
Πτώχευση. Αντιρρήσεις κατά του πίνακα κατάταξης. Υποχρεωτική η κλήτευση της πτωχής εταιρίας. Επιδόσεις σε νομικά πρόσωπα. Μη νόμιμη η κλήτευση με επίδοση στον πληρεξούσιο δικηγόρο του τέως Διευθύνοντα Συμβούλου της πτωχής. Κηρύσσει απαράδεκτη τη συζήτηση.

• ΕφΘεσ 2001/2013
(884, 885, 886 § 2, 888 § 1, 890 § 1, 897 περ. 2, 4, 5, 7,
899 ΚΠολΔ)
Αγωγή ακύρωσης διαιτητικής απόφασης. Παθητικώς νομιμοποιούμενοι, όταν η τελευταία ασκείται από διάδικο, οι αντίδικοι της ενάγουσας στη διαιτητική δίκη. Λόγος ακύρωσης που αφορά στην παραγραφή της αξίωσης. Απορριπτέος ως μη νόμιμος. Εσφαλμένη ερμηνεία και εφαρμογή του νόμου δεν αρκεί για να θεμελιώσει λόγο ακύρωσης. Μη κλήτευση απλής ομοδίκου, κατά της οποίας η ενάγουσα δεν διατηρεί αξίωση. Δεν παραβιάζει την αρχή της ισότητας των διαδίκων. Ως εκ τούτου δεν στοιχειοθετεί τον λόγο ακύρωσης της παράβασης της διαδικασίας. Λόγος ακύρωσης περί υπέρβασης εξουσίας των διαιτητών. Η αναγραφή του ονόματος του εξετασθέντος μάρτυρος δεν αποτελεί περιεχόμενο της διαιτητικής απόφασης. Απορριπτέος ως μη νόμιμος. Δεν έχει αναχθεί σε λόγο ακύρωσης η λήψη υπόψη από τους διαιτητές πραγμάτων που δεν προτάθηκαν και έχουν ουσιώδη επίδραση στην έκβαση της δίκης, όπως η επιδίκαση τόκων, χωρίς την υποβολή σχετικού αιτήματος. Δεν στοιχειοθετείται ο λόγος ακύρωσης του άρθρου 897 περ. 2, καθώς ούτε εκ του νόμου, ούτε εκ της σύμβασης τέθηκε προθεσμία ισχύος της συμφωνίας διαιτησίας.

Gubernatorial candidate Anne Armstrong says her criticism of State childcare workers drew attacks on her family's and church members' kids, as State workers threatened to take children over parents' lawful medicine or practice of religion.  Armstrong has gone full Mama-Grizzly against the inexplicable new trend of seizing babies over mother's lawful cannabis use.

Turkey is already a party to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction of 1980. This brief paper will consider some of the reasons why Turkey may find it advantageous to become a party to the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of Children (the Hague Children's Convention 1996).

Over the past few years, states have been entering into international agreements that increasingly displace their non-refoulement obligations. Non-refoulement is a legal norm that protects vulnerable people from being expelled and returned to a state where they might face serious mistreatement. This rule has been a cornerstone of the law on international migration and forced movement for a considerable period, even being viewed as a human right by some. However, recently states have begun entering into international agreements and treaties that overcome the non-refoulement obligation through a number of arrangements. This study will proceed by looking at three forms of contracting out of non-refoulement: agreements that establish facts, agreements that establish jurisdiction or agreements creating competing norms. This article seeks to draw attention to these effects, criticize them and emphasize that we should not lose sight of the need to protect vulnerable people from expulsion to situations of serious mistreatment.

Few crimes provoke the kind of collective fear, outrage, and fascination that child abductions do. Beginning with a string of high-profile kidnappings in 2002, the media-dubbed “summer of child abductions,” over the last decade stories about missing children have captured national headlines and dominated public discourses about crime and deviance, child safety, parenting, the American family, and gender and sexuality.

Snatched is the first book-length study that interrogates the predominant myths centered on gender and class that shaped mainstream U.S. news coverage of kidnappings in the 2000s. Through an analysis of hundreds of media reports from mainstream U.S. newspapers, news magazines, television broadcasts and web stories, Snatched critically analyzes how news narratives construct the phenomenon of child abductions, the young girls and boys who fall prey, the male perpetrators of the horrific crimes, and the adult victims of long-term abductions who were found or returned years later.

"Snatched" contributes to evolving academic and popular conversations about how crime news both shapes and polices the boundaries of gender, sexuality, race, class, and deviance. This forthcoming title examines news narratives and representations as a critical but understudied source of information about crime, victims and perpetrators in a post-9/11 milieu in which fear of attacks by cultural others are entwined with notions of “the innocent,” idealized childhood.

Advanced Praise for "Snatched"

“Scholars and students interested in moral panics, cultural narratives, and news will find a fascinating read in Snatched. Spring-Serenity Duvall and Leigh Moscowitz effectively weave together theory and textual analysis, taking us into the mediated world of abducted children, their families, and kidnappers. The book highlights the racial, gendered, and classed disparities in news coverage as it questions the ethics of journalism that sensationalizes and capitalizes upon missing children.”
—Carol M. Liebler, Professor, Department of Communications, S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

“Spring-Serenity Duvall and Leigh Moscowitz provide a sophisticated and accessible analysis of news coverage concerning ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’—and in doing so expose the myths and moral panics rooted in gender, race, class, sexuality, and nation that shape U.S. cultural views of innocence, family and childhood, as well as deviance and crime. Their book goes well beyond the common criticism of news organizations that they afford outsized coverage to white, middle- and upper-class girls who are abducted, thereby ignoring children of color and those who do not fit the preferred profile. Instead, Snatched provides nuanced readings of the news to generate fresh insights into this horrific crime.”
—Marian Meyers, Professor, Department of Communication and the Institute of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Georgia State University

The crossborder movement of people, goods, and information frequently results in legal disputes that come under the jurisdiction of multiple states. The principle of deference – acceptance of the exercise of legal authority by another state – is one mechanism to manage such jurisdictional conflicts. Despite the importance of deference in international law and cooperation, little is known about the causes of variation in its use. In this article, we develop a theory of deference that focuses on the role that domestic institutions and norms play in assuring procedural and substantive fairness. We test this theory in an original dataset concerning accession practices in the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Our findings offer considerable support for the idea that states evaluate partners on the likelihood that they can offer a fair legal process. Exploring empirically the efforts against parental child-abduction, we offer a nuanced account of the link between domestic institutions and norms and international cooperation. This account suggests that greater attention should be paid to the use of deference as a mechanism to manage the conflicts posed by globalization.

This chapter focuses on both Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The author shows that Kony led the violent group in Uganda without any clear political or ideological objectives. Kony legitimized his authority through extreme violence, religion, spirit mediums, and rituals based on self-ascribed spiritual duty, but he also provided some socio-economic security to his followers. The forced recruitment of thousands of Acholi children and the leader’s aspiration to have total control over the population rather than over a specific territory distinguishes Kony as a warlord. Once more, lack of political will and military competence have undermined the government’s ability to confront the LRA.

Through a content analysis, this study seeks to uncover the predominant narrative themes centered on gender and class that shaped mainstream US newspaper coverage of child kidnappings from 2000 to 2003. The abductions that dominated news coverage were neither random nor representative cases; clear patterns emerged in the kidnappings that garnered the most media attention. Though statistically rare, the news media disproportionally covered stories of young Caucasian girls being snatched from their middle- to upper-class homes by male strangers, manufacturing a nationwide epidemic. Our analysis reveals how gender and class were used to construct vulnerable girl victims and predatory male perpetrators. News narratives organized kidnapping stories using frames of family values, community cohesion, and patriotism, while also disproportionally exaggerating the “stranger danger” myth. We argue these kidnapping narratives of vulnerable violated girls and predatory male “othered” strangers reflect a post-9/11 America struggling from the cultural aftershocks of national crisis and economic uncertainty.