collaborative journalism on the 1980 Hague Convention

Exclusive: The 1980 Hague Convention’s rapporteur proposes “to reinterpret” 13b and take GBV into account

February 10, 2024. Nearly half a century later, an unprecedented interview with Elisa Pérez-Vera, official rapporteur on international child abduction.
“Children are people, not things”: historic decision over a Hague case

August 27, 2024. Against all odds, the Brazilian highest court revoked the return of three brothers to Colombia, as ordered by three courts before. Mother and lawyer spoke to the hague papers.
Breaking news: Brazil declares domestic violence an exception to repatriation under the Hague Convention

August 23, 2024. It’s the fifth country to make it official and public after Uruguay, Australia, Mexico and Colombia, respectively.
Exclusive: Chilean mother speaks for the first time in hiding since UN epic decision has had no effect [series]

July 18, 2024. A UN decision to protect a Chilean-Spanish boy with autism from being ‘hagued’ has been silenced for two years in Chile and beyond.
This is how the 1980 Hague Convention fails the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [series]

July 18, 2024. The treaty on international child abduction rules 103 countries and is in the midst of an expansion campaign throughout Africa…
Protective mothers affected by the 1980 Hague Convention call for changes to the treaty [series]

July 18, 2024. Women’s groups affected by the application of the treaty made their testimonies known to top officials at its first forum about domestic violence held in South Africa.
Counterproductive protection: a story about survival behind the Hague Convention

June 29, 2024. The terror that this Uruguayan mother experienced in Spain at the hands of her daughter’s father did not lessen with the protective orders she obtained. Au contraire.
Uruguay instructs judges to ignore GBV law in Hague Convention cases

June 29, 2024. The Uruguayan Central Authority decided that admitting domestic violence as an exception to return a child to his or her previous country breaches the Hague Convention.
IN MEMORIAM: Following a Hague return order killed her

Cassandra Hasanovic was convinced she was going to die at the hands of her husband but her pleas for help in two continents fell on deaf ears. “She was devastated when under the Hague Convention she was ordered to return the boys to England,” her mother broke down.
Mexico reckons domestic violence as a grave risk exception for Hague Convention

2023. The Supreme Court of Mexico established that the “grave risk” exception not only applies when the child is a direct victim of harm, but also as a witness to violence within the family.
Abducting mothers or how the Hague Convention undermines child protection

2023. The 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction provides for the prompt return of a child taken from his or her country of origin by a parent regardless of context.
Forced to stay in same country as abuser or risk persecution under Hague Convention

2020. Women are being left with nowhere to turn because of an international ‘good law gone bad’ -the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction-, designed to protect mothers, but frequently used as a weapon against them.
Colombia: International child returns must be decided with gender lens, considering VAW, says Constitutional Court

2023. Colombia’s highest court determined that “the 1980 Hague Convention cannot be reduced to a mere syllogistic in formal compliance to its provisions…”
Chile violated the rights of a boy ordered to return to Spain under Hague Convention, the UN Child Rights Committee found

2022. The UN Child Rights Committee issued its landmark decision after considering a complaint filed by a Chilean mother who had left Spain with her son for his autism.
What Australia’s new law means for Hague Convention cases

2022. The convention became a way for men to maintain control and prevent women and children from fleeing domestic and child abuse. Is it an opportunity for Australia to establish itself as a global champion and a safe haven for mothers and the kids who have been victims?
Getting ‘hagued’: how one international law enables intimate partner violence

February 28, 2024. In the last decade, an estimated 15,000 mothers worldwide have been accused of abducting their own children. They are foreigners trying to relocate back home, but their kids’ father wouldn’t let them.
British mom hasn’t seen her kids in 10 years due to Hague Convention misuse

February 17, 2024. Their father filed a Hague Convention claim against her. Now, she runs a charity to warn parents about the risks of moving overseas and finding themselves “stuck” there.
The 1980 Hague Convention, a human rights contravention?

2023. Maria had to leave, and not only did Maria. In the past 10 years, at least 15,000 expat mothers have been accused of kidnapping their own children. Nowadays, they are about 2,000 per year, 6 per day. One every 4 hours. That’s 75% of international child abductions.