EU accession to the Istanbul Convention, the proposal for a new Directive as an important step to combat international child abduction and domestic violence

Abstract: The phenomenon of international child abduction requires specific help from international, European and national legislators. Mothers who are victims of domestic violence and violence of all kinds are a never-ending reality in recent years as an international phenomenon. The Regulation n. 606/2013 in combination with the Brussels I bis and Brussels II bis and ter regulations are now quite disappointing in practice or outdated given that the mechanism of Directive no. 2011/99/EU on the European protection order confirms applications that we have not actually seen in practice. The Istanbul Convention has recently been joined by the EU as well as the proposal for a Directive by the European Parliament for violence against women and family and domestic violence represents an orientation that guarantees greater protection for mothers who are victims of gender violence through the child return procedure. The time is ripe to see how those steps will perhaps help the reality and how we will be able to address the problem in the coming years.