With the passage of time and the accumulation of more data on the subject of international child abduction, one would think that worldwide numbers of abducted children would be getting smaller. After all, it is not as if any country would be encouraging child abduction. On the contrary, though, in many regions the problem of child abductees not only still a major issue, but intensifying in severity.

Cases of abducted children being taken across international borders are not just minor proverbial blips on the radars of child rights activists, but more ammunition for their calls for something to be done about the hundreds of thousands of child abductees as they generate serious press coverage. As for what governs these spikes in abduction rates, many blame poverty and lawlessness for this trend in statistics.          

Granted, the effects of recession and the failures of banks and businesses can be felt around the world. Major developed countries have experienced significant hits to their economies in economic times, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. The United States, realistically, does better than some foreign countries.         

In one respect, higher incidence of child abductees in the news has been good in that it has raised our society’s awareness of the problem. At the same time, though, it may also be an inspiration to parents contemplating committing that very crime. While the “Monkey see, Monkey do” aspect of human nature may be of dubious justification to some, the repeated coverage of certain stories may in fact unconsciously push parents, if only slightly, to breaking the law.