Day 1154: 30/06/2010 Wednesday.
Madeleine Beth McCann
Missing Children:
Kate's Message
It is only since Madeleine was taken from us, that Gerry and myself
have become aware of just how many children go missing each year from all
around the world. The scale of the problem is huge. In fact, it is terrifying.
I have asked myself many times "why did I not know about this? Am I that
naive or is it the fact that the problem itself is not well publicised for
whatever reason?"
It is impossible to give a number for the amount of children that
go missing but suffice to say it is hundreds of thousands. This includes ‘runaway’
children, parental/family abductions and' ’stranger’ abductions such as in
Madeleine's case. The reason for the lack of precision with regards to number
of cases, appears to be that there is as yet (in the UK
and many countries throughout Europe at
least), no standard method for collecting, recording and categorising data.
Without this, it is not possible to implement strategies to tackle the problem
- recover children and reunite them with their families as soon as possible.
PACT (Parents and Abducted Children Together) is one of the organisations in
the UK
Madeleine's abduction itself was quite unusual, in that it was the
abduction of a 'foreign national'. This introduced unique difficulties, not
least a language barrier. Given that people and families travel quite
extensively nowadays particularly within a ‘borderless’ Europe ,
we believe that a Europe-wide response to the problem is mandatory. I would
think that not an unreasonable request of countries belonging to a ‘European
Union’’
It is fair to say that the USA National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) was
founded in 1984 by John and Reve Walsh after they sadly experienced the
frustration and lack of effective response available, when their own son, Adam,
was abducted and subsequently found murdered in Florida USA Europe and the
rest of the world a safer place for our children. In recent years, similar ‘Child
Rescue Alert’ systems have been introduced in certain European countries- Belgium , France ,
UK and Greece
Gerry and I have been criticised at times for publicising
Madeleine's disappearance. We did what we felt was best at that time, obviously
having no experience of such ordeals. Thankfully NCMEC has assured us that this
was the right thing to do. People have asked (usually in a critical manner)
?why has Madeleine received such attention when there are thousands of missing
children around the world?? My feeling is that the publicity surrounding Madeleine's
abduction was not inappropriate- Every child in such a situation should receive
this same amount of attention, but it shouldn't be down to the family to
instigate it. The public awareness of Madeleine's plight has at the very least,
highlighted cases of other missing children and the extent of the problem as a
whole, and from that we can take a small bit of comfort.
All missing children are vulnerable to exploitation including
sexual exploitation, with this being the motive in many of those cases of
stranger abductions where a motive can be determined. Child sexual exploitation
and child pornography in particular, is sadly and shockingly extensive
worldwide. It is a multi-billion dollar industry aided by the use of the
Internet with the ‘thirst’ for younger victims growing. Once again, my ‘bubble’
of a life burst as I began to discover the facts relating to this now global
crisis. As we travelled through Europe in an
attempt to raise awareness of Madeleine's abduction and appeal for help, we
were repeatedly made aware of the unbelievable existence of such a horrifying
activity and its vastness in our so called civilised and ‘child-loving’
society. How can such ‘businesses’ be condoned or tolerated by us all? What are
the benefits for our children of being in a European Union where several member
countries offer child pornography as a LEGAL past time? The most vulnerable
members of our society are our children and they deserve better than this. Lack
of sex offender registers, lack of reliable tracking systems for known
offenders and no CRB check requirements , not even for those working with
children are other major areas of concern within many parts of Europe. My eyes
have certainly been opened to a whole new world out there - a very worrying
one.
As a parent of an abducted child, I can tell you that it is the
most painful and agonising experience you could ever imagine. My thoughts of
the fear, confusion and loss of love and security that my precious daughter has
had to endure are unbearable - crippling. And yet I am not the victim,
Madeleine is. No child should EVER have to experience something so terrible.
No comments:
Post a Comment