FiLiA Hague Mothers Expert Paper on the Aftermath of Hague Convention Decisions
This expert paper, The Aftermath of Hague Convention Decisions, focuses on an international survey of mothers who have been respondents to petitions under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The results presented in this paper specifically focus on protective measures ordered by courts when returning children to their country of habitual residence.
Currently, most taking parents are mothers (75%) who are primary caregivers (94%) of their children (Lowe & Stephens, 2023). Many taking mothers (78%) raise allegations of domestic violence by the left-behind father on appeal (Weiner, 2021). The little research to date on the effectiveness of protective orders in safeguarding mothers and children on their return to the country of the abuser is not encouraging. For example, the Reunite International Child Abduction Centre’s study of cases in the UK revealed that two-thirds (67%) of the undertakings issued ‒ including all those focused on a child’s safety upon return – were not implemented in the country of habitual residence.
This expert paper seeks to shed light on this issue by providing empirical data as reported by mothers in an anonymous international survey jointly conducted in early 2024 by GlobalARRK and the FiLiA Hague Mothers Project.
Read more about FiLiA Hague Mothers here.