FiLiA Hague Mothers Expert Paper on Legal Systems as Tools of Abuse
At the close of the 2024 International Forum on Domestic Violence and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Hague Secretary-General acknowledged that domestic violence is the single biggest challenge that signatory states face in implementing the Convention. The experiences of victim-survivors that FiLiA Hague Mothers work with suggest that the Convention has become the single biggest challenge they face in attempting to escape that abuse. Both their testimonies and research undertaken over several decades into the prevalence of domestic abuse in Hague cases, demonstrates that this international treaty has become yet one more tool in the perpetrator’s armoury ‒ a highly effective form of legal abuse.
In response to these harms, a Power and Control Wheel was co-created by FiLiA Hague Mothers and its members: ‘Hagued’ mothers, domestic abuse experts and legal professionals. The Hague Power and Control Wheel identifies the numerous ways in which perpetrator fathers target what is most precious to mothers: their children and their ability to care for them and keep them safe from the abusive fathers.
This paper, Legal Systems as Tools of Abuse: the Hague Power and Control Wheel, explores the theoretical underpinnings, methodological process and content of the Hague Power and Control Wheel ‒ a vital new tool that reveals how international law can perpetuate abuse.
Read more about FiLiA Hague Mothers here.