Gina Masterton

(She/Her)
The Hague Convention on child abduction was drafted to deal with fathers abducting their children across borders after losing custody, but it’s applied mainly to mothers fleeing domestic violence. from shutterstock.com

Fleeing family violence to another country and taking your child is not ‘abduction’, but that’s how the law sees it

Under international law, a mother escaping domestic violence with her children to another country is seen as an abductor. She is often ordered to return the child leading to catastrophic consequences.