Our Mission

Our primary mission at the Hague Collective is to raise awareness about the Hague Convention on child abduction (October 25, 1980) through research and education. We are committed to empower and give a voice to those who have been silenced by the Hague and through action, provide a lasting positive change for our community. We advocate for all and we are committed to this goal.

Founder's Statement

A statement from Breffni Wahl on the impact of the Hague Convention:

The Hague Convention is an international treaty that came into law in 1980. Originally designed to protect mothers and kids, now the law has separated mothers from their children, and many of these cases involve abuse, control, and domestic violence.

Close to 80% of mothers who escape abuse, control and/or domestic violence and unwittingly cross international borders are accused of child abduction – and then have their children taken from them with no court process that allows for recourse.

She then faces the difficult choice to follow, and by going back risks losing custody, facing criminal charges, or even being sent to prison. In some cases, she finds out that the father has run up a massive tax or credit card debt in her absence (financial abuse). She may even find herself unable to return or stay and fight for her children due to difficulty obtaining a visa, inability to speak the language, or financial constraints.

The law doesn’t allow these cases to be resolved swiftly, efficiently, or effectively and fails to act in the best interest of the child and the parents.

We all know how happy we are at the start of a relationship… the fresh feeling of hope and excitement, the joyful feeling of the new adventure that we are about to embark upon with the person we love so much, and how it feels like a fairytale until…

…it isn’t, and it turns into the worst nightmare, and even worse – an international nightmare!

The Hague Collective wants to stop these international nightmares by raising awareness, and educating the public and everyone else we can. We want to stop this happening, period!

We would love it if you could donate to help us so we can continue to do this work on behalf of all the moms and kids affected by this issue!