Who are children who run away and why do they run away?
There is no universal definition of the term runaway, but Missing Children Europe defines children who run away as “all children who run away from home or are pushed out of home, or from the institution where they have been placed.”
Running away is frequently an indicator of the presence of adverse childhood experiences in a child’s life, such as abuse, parental mental illness, changes in the family dynamic, or tension in the living environment. Research obtained from the RADAR project, shows that children who run away experience high rates of violence and abuse compared to other categories of missing children, and this happens in the most importance contexts of their lives: at home, in schools, and in the care homes where they live. More specifically, data from the 116 000 missing children hotlines show that 83% of children who run away reported had run away because of problems at home, 61% because of problems in their care homes, and 56% because of problems experienced at school.
When a child runs away from, they may end up sleeping outdoors with little access to food, water, and a trusted adult to help them. These circumstances expose them to an increased risk of violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and homelessness. Running away can also have long-term impacts and it is strongly linked to adversity in later life. For instance, adults who ran away as children show a 51% increase in suicidal thoughts, 50% higher probability of not finishing school, and a 2 to 3 times higher rate of lifetime drug use.
Register to RADAR’s Free Online Course: Understanding and Responding to Children who Run Away from Home and Institutions.
Facts & Figures
53.1%
of missing children cases reported to the 116 000 hotlines in 2020 concerned children who ran away or were pushed out of home or care.
Over 81%
of missing children who experienced violence and/or abuse involved children who run away.
2/3
of children who run away are found within a week, but over 56% run away again. This demonstrates that the situations from which children run away from, too often don’t improve after they return.
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