about

we don’t like capital letters, but we use them sometimes.

welcome to the hague papers, a self-led network to foster cross-border collaborative journalism unveiling stories behind the 1980 hague convention on international child abduction.

the author of the drawing told her mother she wanted to live in their other country. her mom didn’t think twice. september, 2024. (names and rights reserved)

the reference to the panama papers is as clear as helpful to envision the point.

over 2,500 children a year are considered victims of international child abduction when travelling abroad with only one parent: the mother in 75% of the cases.

according to official data, 94% of them hold their children’s custody and are their primary carers.

ruling 103 countries and counting, the treaty establishes a protocol to ensure those children’s prompt return home.

as a result, however, thousands of children have been torn apart from their mothers in breach of human rights in the past decade.

they are being forced back to their previous country upon request of non-primary caring fathers, often despite evidence of abuse.

no one knows what happens afterwards, not even mothers sometimes.

we aim to find out.

mission(s)

welcoming journalists and supporting each other on a delicate subject.
matchmaking reporters from countries involved in each story to work together.
providing stories with an end-to-end approach and follow-up so they can be fully told for the first time in almost half a century.
shedding light on systemic failures to drive accountability and positive change.
reaching english-speaking audiences with (human) translations of our pieces originally published in other languages.

…to be continued…