“Hague Mothers”: the usurpation of the 1980 Hague Convention as a means of separation between mothers and children in the context of domestic violence

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate how the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction can be used by the abusive parent as an instrument in extend abuse against women abroad. In this sense, through a qualitative approach, based on empirical data on the application of the Hague Convention in the context of transnational domestic violence, as well as analysis of studies, bibliographical and doctrinal research, the starting point is a brief historical analysis of the Hague Convention. Next, it presents the main developments from the imputation of international abduction to the Brazilian mother who suffered domestic violence abroad. Finally, the work explores what is most poignant in the debates that orbit the subject in view of the tendency of a mostly restrictive interpretation by the courts regarding the exception of art.13, §1, “b” of the Convention. Thus, the conclusion is that the context and the agent (abducting parent) of the so-called “international kidnapping” diverge from the purpose originally intended by the Convention. Furthermore, the principle of the best interests of the child is not being respected, given that it cannot be translated simply as the return of the child to the abandoned parent who committed abuse against the partner and, potentially, against the child – who may be a direct or indirect victim.