Peer-reviewed article

International vs. Domestic Parental Child Abduction in Pakistan: A Brief Insight into Law Discrepancies and Effect on Child Well-Being

Adnan Rasheed · 24 Dec 2025

Abstract

Family is an institute that nurture the children in its laps in their most delicate time zone and that is their childhood. But, at the same time, this family may become the weird dream of some children when the marriage of the parents collapses due to incompatibilities. As the children were the most delicate bodies in any family institute, so they are the most prone to any psychological, emotional and social setbacks imparted due to the dissolution of their parents’ marriage. The worst among all this is the rat race among the parents after their separation to win their legal custodianship without encompassing the emotional and psychological damage to their children during this journey. The consequences are even worst during cross-border child abduction, where the two states policies may contradict each other thus further delaying the custodian rights process and may increase the sufferings of the children. There is a need to look into the factors that hinder the prompt delivery of the justice to the suffered families and to keep the best interest of the children above all norms. All involved state bodies may be well-equipped to deal with such dilemmas at the earliest to minimize the psychological and emotional and social damage to the children under question. This review will provide an insight into the limitations in the law framework leading to both the international as well as domestic parental child abduction and the improvements that may be adopted to ensure the well-being of the children.