“When We First Split up, He Took the Kids and Ran”: Child Abductions in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence

After separation because of intimate partner violence (IPV), fathers may threaten to or abduct children. In these mixed methods secondary analysis of a data set from 2005 to 2009 with 370 Canadian mothers, 242 (65.4%) of fathers had not threatened abduction, 70 (18.9%) had threatened abduction, and 58 (15.7%) had abducted children. The women with abduction histories reported more serious IPV on several Composite Abuse Scales. Seventy-one women commented about abductions: 36 described actual but brief abductions, 17 described more serious abductions, and 18 noted their partners' direct threats to abduct. Recommendations to better address mothers' issues about abductions are provided.