Protecting Children from Coercive Control: A Case for Denying Return Under the Hague Abduction Convention

Domestic abuse definitions have broadened from physical violence to include coercive control, a pattern of behavior that includes threats, stalking, psychological abuse, economic abuse, sexual coercion, isolation and denying autonomy. This shift parallels rising international parental child abduction cases, especially mothers and children escaping abuse. The 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction mandates rapid cross-border child return yet allows exceptions when return creates grave harm or intolerable conditions for the child. We argue courts should refuse return orders upon finding evidence of coercive control, since such abusive behavior fundamentally endangers children's psychological and physical wellbeing and exposes them to intolerable situations.