I am going to get slaughtered for this I know but I think the lack of news/response over the kidnapping of a 3 year old girl shows that ...

[wannaBe]

one child's plight is more important than another in the eyes of some.

She is also three, she is also Brittish, Yes she is currently still alive but there is a threat over her life, but it doesn't seem as relevant somehow.

is it because she's in a country most wouldn't travel to?

because she was taken by rebels and not paedophiles?

I have tried not to get involved in MMC conversations as I feel it futile but this subject has always been close to my heart and i feel i have to comment.

Firstly, Portugal is not a sleepy place and of course it could happen there. Portugal has had serious problems with child kidnapping and peodophile rings for years, indeed there is a high profile trial going on over there right now. And whilst the portugeuese are on the whole supportive of the campaign, it has also left a rather bitter taste as they wonder where the portuguese police and press were when their own children went missing....never to be recovered.

Secondly, I understand the situations are different, but never the less, they are two small children not with parents and if anything the media circus surrounding MMC in my mind is not doing a lot really to give her anymore a safe return than this other child. I mean come on - would you really want to be the one caught with her right now? People panic.

Thirdly, to me it's nothing to do with race or country, it's class. A little over 10 years ago a young girl named Kayleigh Ward 9 years old went missing about a week before xmas. She came from a broken home and her single parent family were living in a hostel after being evicted. Kayligh was described by her teachers as troubled and difficult. She was seen talking to tramps and prostitutes at the hostel so it was assumed she'd run away. The police went on telly holding up a stereo asking Kayleigh to come home and all would be forgiven. It barely made the news. 2 months later her body was found washed up in the local river where she had been dumped after being raped and strangled the day she went missing. It made the middle pages when she was found and given all of two lines in the papers. Luckily the guy was caught. Now, you tell me, if her parents had both been well thought of doctors and she'd been on a happy family holiday, she might have been given more care and consideration.

We treat kids in this country like dogs it would seem unless they are of the right calibre. Every child is a madeline and every child that goes missing should be given the same level of publicity as well as their parents the same amount of respect. Kayleigh's case unfortunately has not been an isolated incident.

I know this post is years long but this really is something that gets on my pip!!

I agree with your post, Count, in many ways.

But of course people will come on here and say it has nothing at all to do with class or race.

Whatever.

I remember the Kayleigh Ward case. Vividly.

I also have noted the gentle insinuations from case to case reported, that, the lower class families/parents of missing children are suspected more in the early days than the children of middle class.

Well I am not sure what you are insinuating but I am saying that in this particular case they are different and to say it is about skin colour is naive and patronising. If Margaret was taken from a holiday apartment in Europe then perhaps we could wave comparisons around but she was in a very dangerous country where kidnapping are frequent and alright, Portugal may not be sleepy it is not Port Harcourt.

applauds countto10's post.

earlier in the thread I thought I agreed with you, Looby. But I think you're the one being naive if you think race has nothing to do with the way the media approaches these two stores.

*stories not stores

Absolutely vvvq. And with all due respect loobyloo I think it naive that people think race or class couldn't have anything to do with but I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

I remember the Kayleigh Ward case too, count, and I agree with every word you and others have said about race, class and family situation being an issue wrt media interest/angle
Margaret Hill's kidnapping has really shocked me and has been preying on my mind all day for two reasons

1. the circumstances around her kidnapping could also be applied on dd's best friend since babyhood, who spends time in Nigeria every year, and whom we all love dearly
2. we have at least one expatriate Mumsnetter with a school age child also in Nigeria, and she and her family are in my thoughts too Am hoping for an update and that Margaret is safe back with her parents very soon

Like your post Marina. V good points.

No I think you are misunderstanding me, I do think that they have something to do with it but not in this particular circumstance. Honestly my first thought in the McCann case when I heard was 'OMG that could have been us' (before I heard about the particulars of her being alone)and with Margaret I thought 'OMG that is horrendous' but I didn't compare her to my three year old daughter because my dd is far, far from likely to suffer the same circumstances.

The first thing I thought when I heard this was suedonim too Marina.

VVVQV she started a thread the other day which went a bit pear-shaped (I think it was about the fact that so many people seemingly connected with the car-bombs are medics) and then she said something about a distressing phone call at 3am and logging on to take her mind off it. I do hope she (and the Hills) are OK.

OH no I missed that I hope she's okay too. She's mentioned some of the things that are 'day to day life' out there and its quite shocking.

I had a friend who did VSO there. It's the only place in an exciting and varied worldwide career of 20 years that she never felt comfortable, despite meeting loads of great people

I find it very sad that if I had not been on mumsnet then I would not have heard about this poor girl. I saw the news this morning but nothing was on (though I was half asleep).

What worries me is how it would be reported if any of the little children I knew went missing (God forbid, and I pray to every God it doesnt happen), and how I'd feel if any of them were deemed un-newsworthy

See the first thing I thought was god I'm glad that's not my child - those poor parents, I hope she's gonna be ok. I never compare situations like for like though. That's why it breaks my heart when I see children starving or dying of aids or being neglected and abused anywhere in the world. I don't identify with the situation I identify with the fact that I am a parent and I too have a child and I thank my lucky stars that at that second in time, my child is with me and not somewhere else. It doesn;t matter that in reality my child isn't going to starve or die of aids or be kidnapped my rebels, but that those kinds of things could happen to a child the same age as my little boy. And I;m not trying to say that you don't sympathise to, pls don't misunderstand me. What I am saying is that it should not be important who the situation is going to relate to, just that the situation is there.

Do people really think that newspaper publicity is a 'reward' that people 'deserve'? I think that's very odd. Do this family want to be in the papers? How does it benefit this girl?

And the absence of a photograph seems to me to indicated that they don't seek media involvement.

It is not just about the news papers though. In my day-to-day life, the first couple of weeks that Madeline McCann was missing, everybody was talking about it. Whether it was shock, talking about how she'd been alone, speculating about where she was, whether the parents were going to face questioning for leaving her alone etc, people were talking. Nobody has uttered a word today about Margaret.

Yes they have. It's been all over the news and on MN for a start.

all the publicity has not benefited Madeleine.quite the opposite infact.anyone who had Madeleine would have panicked with the level of attention.it is awful but the media have probably decreased the chances of her being returned rather than increased it.

with Margaret,they know who has her and they are in negotiations with them.there could be a media blackout.the family may not want the publicity,the police may have told them it doesn't help in cases like this.no one knows.but all other hostages in the area have been released unharmed so maybe they are sticking with what they know works.

But it is in the news! - BBC 2 covered it in great detail at lunchtime and interviewed a guy who was kidnapped last year in Nigeria to talk about who and why, they also talked about the details of the case including the call asking the father to swop with the little girl and the fact that the father is quite ill with kidney problems.
BBC News 24 has it as about its 2nd or 3rd news headline, and it's on Sky. Also it's the top story on Times online - under World & Africa.

So the story is generating alot of media attention.

wannabe, ive only read your initial post, i knew some people would feel this way. These incidents are quite different. The publicity surrounding little madeleine is because they dont really know where she is, who has her. They know that someone has this other little girl and that demands have been made, i saw a statement earlier by the parents asking the media to allow them to try and sort this out. The media interest could be damaging in this case - lets hope both of these little girls are found safe and well.

vvv there is a post on the original thread from your friend who i think you are worried about