When the Family Courts order shared care with an abusive parent, is the other parent ever justified in seeking safety in another country with their child?

If a child is taken to a country that is a signatory to the ‘Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction’ against court orders, they can be ordered back to the country of residence.

But if the country isn’t signed up to the Convention, it is very difficult for the other parent to get them back.

This Auatralian programme asks what is being done to protect children who are abducted, and whether tightening the law (in Australia) would have any effect.
http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/watchonline/471/Parental-Abductions

However, discussions of relocation consistently fail to highlight the plight of women who have moved away from their family and friends to another country to be with their partner or husband.

If the relationship fails the expectation of shared care can prevent the mother from accessing family support or returning to her own country, even when she is the primary carer and/ or the children have dual nationality.

When there is a history of domestic abuse, a previously uninvolved father can pursue shared care as a means to ensure the mother is totally isolated from her family and culture.

Taking children from their home and from a loving parent is potentially very damaging for all children.

However, when the family courts order unsupervised contact despite serious welfare concerns, or order shared care when there is on going domestic abuse – and the protective parent subsequently choses to leave the country - how do we decide what is in the child’s best interests?