Abduction consists of removing a child from his or her parent or guardian for the purpose of sexual intercourse or marriage. It is a separate crime from kidnapping. The overall abduction rate for South Africa in 2016/17 stood at one abduction per 100,000 children. The table below provides the abduction rate across province, sex and age group in 2016/17.
When population sizes are taken into account, the abduction rate was highest in the Free State, North West and Western Cape, at 3 abductions per 100,000 children. Abductions most commonly involved girls and were focused on adolescents.