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the Hague Convention recognized domestic violence only in the pattern of a father
abducting a child from a mother as a kind of abuse to her. However, nowadays

the mother is the one who takes the child with her, crossing international borders to
escape from domestic violence. In Australia and New Zealand, for instance, 100 percent
34
of international child abduction cases are involved with a mother as the child abductor.
35
The child himself can also be the direct victim of domestic violence when being abused
by a parent. 36

All these kinds of domestic violence made it inappropriate to have the child
involved in the mediation process. Researchers like Jill Goldson and Jennifer McIntosh,

despite arguing for child-inclusive mediation, agree that disputes involving domestic
violence need to be carefully screened or excluded from mediation because it needs
a higher level of therapy. Domestic violence also plays a key role in the debate of
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whether there should be mediation at all. Many practitioners argued that in trying to
remain neutral, mediators are not able to equalize the bargaining power between
the abuser and the victim, who reasonably feared his or her abusive partner, leading to

a resolution that might not actually be acceptable to the victim. The post-mediation
38
consequence is also alarming. There is no effective measure to protect the victim after
mediation, and statistics show that there are more violent abuses happening after

mediation than after trial. 39

Having the child involved in international child abduction mediation, which is
likely to be of high-conflict nature with domestic violence background, may reinforce

34 Id.
35 Id.
36 Nuria González Martín, supra note 7 at 343.
37 Department of Justice, Canada, The Voice of the Child in Separation/Divorce Mediation and Other
Alternative Dispute Resolution Processes: A Literature Review, http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/fl-lf/divorce/
vcsdm-pvem/p4.html#ftnref75 (last visited Dec. 9, 2015) (citing Interview with Jill Goldson, social worker and
principle researcher for the (2006) study, Hello, I’m a voice, let me talk: Child-inclusive mediation in family separation
and Interview with Dr. Jennifer McIntosh, psychologist/researcher and Director of Family Transitions, Australia.).
38 E.g., Kerry Loomis, Domestic Violence and Mediation: A Tragic Combination for Victims in California
Family Court, 35 Cal. W. L. Rev. 355, 362-66 (1999), etc.
39 Id.

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