The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the “Hague Convention”) requires all signatory states to promptly return a child “wrongfully” removed to a foreign country by one parent without the consent of the other parent. The Convention, however, expressly allows not to return a child to her home country if doing so would expose the child to a “grave risk of physical or psychological harm.”
This “grave risk of harm” defense often arises against the backdrop of domestic violence, when one parent flees the home country with the child, claiming domestic abuse by the other parent. Many courts and practitioners, however, remain seemingly unaware of the growing scientific consensus regarding the severe and long-lasting psychological harm to children exposed to domestic abuse, and require evidence of the child sustaining bruises or broken bones at the hands of the abusive parent.
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