Why children go missing

Children go missing for many different reasons. The most typical cases include:

Runaways: Children and adolescents might run away from their families or care providers due to parents’ violence or romantic relations

Parental/international child abductions: Conflicts between the parents when separated or divorced in custody cases weigh heavily on partners and children, leading sometimes to Runways, domestic violence or parents’ abduction specially if one of the parents is a foreigner or living abroad.

Abduction by third party

Ransom Kidnapping: in most cases, kidnappers are linked to the child’s family and familiar with the family’s social and financial status.

According to a study by the national criminal research center, 856 ransom kidnapping cases has been recorded in 2012, to increase tremendously to reach around 2264 missing children during 2018 and 2019 as stated by the national helpline.

Kidnapping for adoption: with legal and cultural restrictions specially in MENA region as well as complicated adoption processes, -want to be- parents might go to kidnapping and child is written under their family name.

Kidnapping for child labor & begging: according to CAPMAS annual book 2016, the number of children working in Egypt exceeded the 1.59 million; they practice begging and working in workshops and factories and poorly paid, leading to the loss of their childhood.

Kidnapping for Sexual Abuse: which happens for 2 crime motives Sexual abuse trade (prostitution): which is a purchase of sexual acts and exploitation by a person or organization for the purpose of making a profit.

Sexual exploitation: by seducing them with safe housing or pretending of affection, in which there is a kind of continuity and repetition for a long time without any gain even if it does not contain force and threat.

Kidnapping for Illegal Organ trade: whereby organs are forcibly removed from live bodies after abduction, children are a common commodity in the organ trade most of the cases are street and abducted children

Despite the tremendous efforts from governments and civil organizations to eliminate numbers of street and missing children, the child helpline still faces some serious issues in addressing the issue like:

• There are no shelters for mentally disabled street children.
• Shelters sometimes refuse to accept street children who are ill.
• In the case of family violence, no legal measures can be enforced for the protection of the child without an official complaint submitted by a parent or relative of the child that has been abused.
• Many cases of violence against children / forced child marriages are not reported
• Police authorities only allows reports to be issued by the child’s guardian / care provider which is in some cases is the abuser

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