FHM at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Guatemala City
On 11 March, members of our fabulous Human Rights team took part in an IACHR thematic hearing on the human rights situation of Hague mothers and children in the Americas.
The extraordinary line-up were: Professor Merle Weiner (University of Oregon), Janaina Albuquerque Gomez (Revibra), Tamara Amoroso Gonsalves (SHERA), Shivangi Misra (Equality Now), Loana Noguera (Argentina), Nicole Fidler (Sanctuary for Families), and Carrie Bettinger-Lopez (University of Miami).
Our heartfelt thanks to them for their time, expertise, and advocacy.
“Private international law cannot and must not be allowed to operate in isolation from the human rights obligations that we collectively espouse.”
Their presentations focused on the serious human rights’ violations enabled by the Hague Abduction Convention, and the many ways in which the process is stacked in favour of abusive fathers: no legal aid for ‘abducting’ parents, no domestic abuse defence, expedited cases giving no time for meaningful risk assessment, and little understanding among judges of sex-based violence and its impact. In addition, they pointed out the extent to which mothers, especially migrant mothers, face systemic discrimination on the basis of sex, migration, race and class. The panel called for both the Hague Convention and the Inter-American Convention to be aligned with regional human rights standards for women and children.
We also want to thank the coalition of organisations who supported our request for a hearing:
El Paso Civil Association, Uruguay, Center for Research on International Child Abduction (NUPESIC), Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights (CLADEM), Equality Now, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil, GAMBE, GlobalARRK, Legal Momentum, National Family Court Watch Project, National Family Violence Law Centre at GW Law, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Revibra, Rimuve (International Network of Uruguayan Mothers Victims of Violence Abroad), Sanctuary for Families: Narkis Golan International Child Abduction Initiative, SHERA Research Group, University of Miami Human Rights Clinic.
Together we will make change happen.
