The tension between uniformity and progress: child abductions perpetrated by mothers fleeing from domestic violence

This paper aims to investigate the phenomena of international child abductions committed by mothers who are the victims of domestic violence. Taking into account the best interests of the children, the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction and the Brussels II bis Regulation was supposed to ensure a level playing field for citizens across the adhering countries. However, changes over time to the profile of the typical taking parent/abductor, from the father/non-custodial parent, to the mother primary caregiver subject to abuse by the husband, has inevitably led towards an inefficiency in the system which is now unable to deal with these new scenarios and which in turn leads to a discretionary application of the Convention and the Regulation by national courts. This contribution seeks to illustrate one of the most delicate aspects of the child abduction mechanism, the “grave risk exception” applied to family violence, and the correlated need for international intervention aimed at creating uniformity in national decisions in order to prevent abducting mothers who are the victims of domestic violence from being forced to choose between returning with the child to her abuser, or leaving him/her alone with a violent father.