Hague expert and activist (and HM Australia team member) Gina Masterton was recently asked about the Convention. She has given us permission to publish her eloquent and comprehensive reply: I’m not opposed to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention (HCAC) not being amended, as it works well for its original purpose i.e. cases involving fathers
I’m not opposed to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention (HCAC) not being amended, as it works well for its original purpose i.e. cases involving fathers abducting their children over international borders. Those are the only cases that the HCAC should be applied to. It should NOT be invoked and enforced against mothers who flee abuse perpetrated against them and/or their children by their child’s father or his family, or in cases where children have witnessed abuse perpetrated by their father or his family against their mother.
However, if the HCAC is to continue to be applied in domestic violence related cases where protective mothers have rescued themselves and their child from abuse, then the exceptions embedded in the HCAC must be amended to focus on protecting abused mothers and children, not on persecuting them.
Source: In a nutshell – Hague Mothers