stolen children

Stolen children refers to children forcibly removed from their families, typically by state authorities.

The term most often describes historical government policies targeting indigenous populations—in Australia, the Stolen Generations were Aboriginal children taken from families and placed with white families or institutions from roughly 1910 to 1970.

Similar practices occurred in Canada and the United States.

The phrase carries strong connotations of cultural genocide and intergenerational trauma: survivors of the stolen children policies, the legacy of stolen children continues to affect indigenous communities.