GlobalARRK speaks with the Guardian to highlight the concerns the proposed amendment to the UK’s Crime and Policy Bill could create if victims of domestic abuse who flee with children overseas to be criminalised under the new law.
About 75% of overseas abductions are by primary-carer mothers, at least 75% of whom are fleeing domestic abuse. There are about 500 new parental child abduction cases a year.
Roz Osborne, the chief executive of Global Action on Relocation and Return with Kids said the vast majority of abduction cases her charity sees, about 90 a year, involve primary-carer mothers.
“Typically, she travels with her child on a permitted holiday to her home country. Once there, she realises she cannot return to the country where the abuse occurred,” said Osborne. “Many mothers are unaware that taking their children to a safe place could be considered illegal, believing instead that they are doing the right thing to protect their child.
“With prison sentences of seven years for this new offence, this could have serious and lasting consequences for children and their protective parent,” she added.
Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/16/domestic-abuse-victims-children-overseas-crime-police-bill-law
