I CARE Foundation Launches Global Child Abduction Prevention Tool

LOS ANGELES - June 19, 2013 - PRLog -- How To Stop International Child Abduction when your child travels to another country with your former spouse?

Peter Thomas Senese and The I CARE Foundation have created a universal ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ intended to prevent International Parental Child Abduction. The international travel child consent agreement is based upon international law created under the Hague Convention. The travel agreement is expected to be used by citizens of Hague member countries when dealing with international travel in high conflict custody disputes and will help prevent international parental child abduction due to the wrongful detention of a child traveling abroad with one parent.

The ‘International Child Travel Consent Form’ has been created using substantial ‘Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction’ case law. Specific attention and detail was focused on international abduction defenses associated with Articles 12, 13, and 20 of the international convention and incorporated into the travel consent document while also upholding the spirit of an expeditious return of a wrongfully detained child under Article 1.

The travel document is not expected to simply act as a parent consent form allowing a child to travel abroad but also reinforces a child’s return to their country of origin based upon affirmation requirements that remove the majority of an abductor’s legal defenses to remain abroad in connection with Hague law. This is a potential game-changer not just for American children who are abducted, but for children of all nations.

International parental child abduction is a worldwide problem that is a severe act of child abuse. According to a recent report issued by the Department of Justice, children who are abducted are often at high risk of significant acts of abuse and violence by the abducting parent, including murder.

During the summer vacation period, child abduction is prevalent. Often, children born from a multinational relationship are targeted for abduction when the marriage or partnership breaks down, or when one of the parents wants to end the relationship and that parent desires to return to their own country of origin with the child. So, these would-be-abductors create a clever scheme under the guise of a family vacation to visit relatives so that the other parent will consent to the travel abroad. Once abroad, the abducting parent often unleashes a carefully orchestrated scheme intended not only to remain abroad with the child, but often to permanently remove the other parent from the child’s life.

The legal defenses used by abductors to remain abroad have often enabled them to have a court sanction their abduction.

The I CARE Foundation’s ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ addresses many of the possible defenses an abductor may use.

The ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ will be available in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mondrian, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic in the coming days.

For attorneys or parents at risk of having a child abducted interested in obtaining a full legal brief and framework of the travel consent form, please contact legal@stopchildabduction.org. To find out more information or to download the ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ please visit the I CARE Foundation website at www.stopchildabduction.org.