Kidnapping: definition, types, history, and legal response

Legal demarcation

In German criminal law, the offences of trafficking in human beings, kidnapping, extortionate kidnapping, hostage-taking, abduction of minors and abduction are grouped together under the generic term of kidnapping offences as special cases of the general offence of deprivation of liberty.

The former offence of abduction with and against the will of the abductee, in which the will of the male perpetrator had to be directed towards performing extramarital sexual acts on the abducted woman, has been abolished in the course of the reform of offences against sexual self-determination. Abduction against the will of the abductee can now be punished as (attempted) sexual assault or rape.

(On "wife stealing," which was widespread mainly in historical times, see bride stealing; on "wife stealing" as an ecclesiastical marriage impediment, see Raptio.)

Criminological demarcation

The criminological distinction between kidnapping, hostage-taking and abduction is not always uniform and unambiguous. In any case, kidnapping is said to occur when the victim is taken to a hiding place or to a location known only to the perpetrators. The aim of a kidnapping is predominantly to extort a ransom. Other goals may be to enforce political demands or the release of prisoners. Combinations of these and similar objectives also occur. A characteristic of hostage-taking, on the other hand, would be that the victim is held by the hostage-takers at a known location and used, for example, to extort the free departure of the criminals or to cover the escape route. A characteristic may also be that the persons taken hostage become victims of the deprivation of liberty more or less by chance (e.g. because they are at the scene of a bank robbery), whereas kidnapping victims were specifically selected by the perpetrators before the crime. Already in the case of airplane or ship hijackings, these delimitations are no longer applicable. Abduction is often referred to when the purpose of the abduction is to make use of the abductees' abilities and characteristics, i.e. to abuse the abductees as forced labourers or sex slaves, for example, and to deprive them of their freedom in the long term.

Victim Impact

Beyond the mere deprivation of liberty, victims of kidnapping are usually in danger of being injured or killed, and their life and limb are accordingly threatened. The psychological consequences of this traumatic experience can also be serious. A prolonged kidnapping or hostage situation can cause the victim and perpetrator to become emotionally close due to their mutual predicament. This effect is known as Stockholm syndrome because it was first described in connection with a hostage-taking in a bank in Stockholm.

• 1782: The Abduction from the Seraglio, opera
• 1986: The Incredible Abduction of Crazy Mrs. Stone, American film comedy starring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito
• 1989: Steven - The Abduction, US-American film about the abduction of Steven Stayner
• 1991: The Silence of the Lambs, American thriller about a human skinning murderer, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins
• 1993: The Abduction of Agata, Polish film, satirical reworking of an authentic case
• 1996: Bounty - One will pay, US feature film with actors Mel Gibson and Rene Russo
• 1997: Todesspiel, docu-drama about the hijacking of the Lufthansa airliner Landshut by Palestinian terrorists
• 2001: Der Tanz mit dem Teufel - Die Entführung des Richard Oetker, German TV crime thriller about the kidnapping of Richard Oetker
• 2006: Alpha Dog - Deadly Friendships, loosely based on actual events surrounding Jesse James Hollywood in Los Angeles in August 2000
• 2008: 96 Hours, French action thriller with Liam Neeson
• 2009: Stop the world, German TV movie about the kidnapping of Felix Wille
• 2009: Without a Trace - The Abduction of Alice Creed, British thriller
• 2013: 3096 Days, German film drama
• 2016: Trapped, eight-part television documentary (United States 2016).