USCA11 Case: 23-10918 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 05/26/2023 Page: 1 of 42 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 23-10918 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ WELLEKSON GONÇALVES SILVA, Petitioner-Appellee, versus ANDRIENE FERREIRA DOS SANTOS, Respondent-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:22-cv-03371-ELR ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-10918 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 05/26/2023 Page: 2 of 42 2 Opinion of the Court 23-10918 Before ROSENBAUM, LUCK, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the “Convention”), Oct. 25, 1980, T.I.A.S. No. 11670, and its implementing legislation, the International Child Ab- duction Remedies Act (“ICARA”), 22 U.S.C. §§ 9001–9011, govern international child abductions during domestic disputes. The Con- vention ordinarily mandates a child’s return to their country of ha- bitual residence if the child has been wrongfully removed. But it also provides certain exceptions, including one for when a court finds that a child’s return would put the child at a grave risk of phys- ical or psychological harm. We refer to this as the “grave risk” ex- ception. In 2021, Respondent-Appellant Adriene Ferreira dos Santos left Brazil with her daughter, Y.F.G., and eventually entered the United States. The child’s father, Petitioner-Appellee Wellekson Gonçalves Silva, shared custody of Y.F.G., and he petitioned for the child’s return to Brazil under the Convention and ICARA. Dos Santos believes this case fits within the “grave risk” ex- ception. She has proffered evidence that Silva has repeatedly phys- ically abused her and others, including in front of Y.F.G., and that he has emotionally abused Y.F.G. Based on this evidence, dos San- tos contends that Y.F.G.’s return to Brazil would impose a signifi- cant risk of harm on the child. Meanwhile, Silva denies that he has USCA11 Case: 23-10918 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 05/26/2023 Page: 3 of 42 23-10918 Opinion of the Court 3 abused dos Santos or Y.F.G. and argues that there is no significant risk of harm to the child in Brazil. Following a bench trial at which both parents testified, the district court ordered that Y.F.G. be returned to Brazil. The district court expressly found Silva not to be credible, but because the dis- trict court concluded that dos Santos did not provide independent corroboration to support her own testimony, the district court found she had not established by clear and convincing evidence a “grave risk” of harm to Y.F.G. in Brazil. After careful review of the record, we conclude that the dis- trict court applied an erroneous legal standard in weighing the con- flicting testimony. Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s order and remand for further consideration. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background Dos Santos and Silva met in 2011 in Brazil. They have one child together, their daughter Y.F.G., who was born in 2012 in Guanhães, Brazil. The three lived together in Guanhães until April 2020, when dos Santos and Silva separated. Dos Santos submits that her relationship with …
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