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Are you a survivor of gender-based violence who needs legal assistance with a U.S-based Hague Convention case?

Please fill out the form below if you are seeking a legal consultation from the NGI. Please note that our mandate is to assist victims of domestic violence and other gender-based violence and that we can only assist in cases that have a connection to the United States.

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Technical Assistance, Training, and/or Amicus Briefs

Are you a victims’ rights organization, legal services organization, or pro bono attorney who serves survivors of gender-based violence and would like a case consult, additional resources, training, and/or advocacy assistance on a Hague Convention issue/case?

Click the button below to submit a request for technical assistance, training, and/or amicus brief assistance.

Resources

The Hague Convention is a multilateral international treaty. It only applies if both subject countries (i.e., the country the child is taken from, and the country the child is taken to) are treaty partners. You can review the HCCH status table to find the list of countries that have joined the Hague Convention but note that if a subject country has acceded to the Hague Convention (indicated in the status table by an “A”), that accession must be accepted by the other subject country. The State Department website has a list of all current U.S. Hague Convention treaty partners.

The Hague Convention’s stated goals are (i) “to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in” another country and (ii) ”to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.” The Hague Convention has several defenses that, if proven in a court of law, could prevent the return of a child:
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The child has been in the United States for over one year and is now well-settled in his/her/their new environment. (See Convention Art. 12.)

The person seeking the return of the child had consented to or subsequently acquiesced in the removal or retention of the child. (See Convention Art. 13.)

Returning the child would cause “a grave risk” of exposure “to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation.” (See Convention Art. 13.) Such situations may include, but are not limited to, child abuse, serious neglect, domestic violence, war, and/or inadequate treatment facilities for a child with a serious medical condition.

The child objects to return and has attained an age and degree of maturity at which it is appropriate to consider the child’s view. (See Convention Art. 13).

Return would not be permitted by the principles of the United States relating to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. (See Convention Art. 20.)

ICARA (22 U.S.C. § 9101 et seq.) is the U.S. federal statute that implements the Hague Convention in the U.S. and establishes procedures for filing a Hague Convention petition.
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Under ICARA, the “left-behind parent” can file a Hague Convention petition in either state or federal court asking for the court to order the return of the child to the “left-behind” country. The parent filing the petition is known as the “Petitioner.” The petition must be filed in the jurisdiction where the child is located at the time of filing and must be served on the party (or parties) who have custody of the child. That person(s) is known as the “Respondent.”

INCADAT is a case law database on international child abduction law that is managed by the HCCH.

International Organizations that Provide Support to Survivors

GlobalARRK > supports parents who are “stuck” abroad with their children and want to return home with their children after their relationship breaks down. GlobalARRK offers a call-back helpline, a lived experience group, and online workshops.
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Pathways to Safety International > supports Americans living abroad with safety relocation, specialized international safety planning, referrals to lawyers, and other basic needs.
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New Zealand Hague Collective > provides information, advocacy, and support to stuck parents who have fled family violence with their children.
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International Social Service Australia > provides intercountry social work, legal and mediation services for children and families separated by international borders.

Get Help

Are you a survivor of gender-based violence who needs legal assistance with a U.S-based Hague Convention case?

Technical Assistance, Training, and/or Amicus Briefs

Are you a victims’ rights organization, legal services organization, or pro bono attorney who serves survivors of gender-based violence and would like a case consult, additional resources, training, and/or advocacy assistance on a Hague Convention issue/case?

Resources

1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction >

International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA) >

INDACAT >

International Organizations that Provide Support to Survivors