Stand with Melo to Protect Her Daughter
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Dear Friends and Community,
I’m writing to you again because many of you already know the difficult and heartbreaking situation I am facing. This moment, right now, is my one chance to speak the truth — to defend the safety and well-being of my 3-year-old daughter, and to expose the violence and coercive control we have endured.
The father of my child is a Danish military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I once believed he would protect us. I admired his discipline and composure and trusted that his background in service would create a strong, safe foundation for our family. But behind closed doors, that discipline became a tool of control. His calm exterior masked emotional instability, psychological manipulation, and escalating patterns of intimidation and abuse. The man I once trusted became the very person we needed protection from.
His entire professional life has been defined by military service. Due to his psychological condition—including a formal diagnosis of complex PTSD—he has been deemed unfit to work in any civilian role and is now on full military retirement. Despite this, the Danish court failed to recognize the clear risks and challenges of placing full responsibility for a medically vulnerable toddler with a parent who has no caregiving history and is himself struggling to function in everyday society. This decision not only endangers my child—it places the father in a position he is neither trained for nor capable of managing safely.
On February 22, my daughter and I were forced to return to Denmark under a U.S. court order that was meant to safeguard us and ensure a fair custody process. Instead, my worst fears were realized. Upon arrival, I was detained by Danish police — under the direction of the father’s lawyer, who rejected the protective conditions set by the U.S. court. My daughter was torn from my arms and handed over to a man I had a restraining order against in the United States.
My daughter has autism and only understands Spanish. Both the Danish authorities and her father were made fully aware of this, yet they chose to ignore it. Since being separated from me — her mother, her emotional anchor — she has developed mutism from trauma. She is now isolated in a small town, far from any therapy or specialized care, surrounded by people who don’t speak her language, and in an environment where she receives no emotional support.
In the U.S., I gave her every opportunity: therapy, stability, love, and a nurturing home. Here in Denmark, she has been denied basic medical care. Her well-being has been abandoned by a system that claims to protect children, but which in reality protects the abuser.
I have been denied all contact. No visits. No phone calls. Not even a chance to tell her I am here. I’ve even been told her father showed her a photo of me and said, “You’ve lost your mother.” Imagine the heartbreak and confusion for a child who already cannot speak, now made to believe her mother is gone.
I’ve reached out to my congressman. I’ve been in contact with the U.S. Embassy. But there is only so much they can do. My case is one of many tragic injustices happening in countries like Denmark, where abusers often have more rights than the children they harm.
I’ve considered going public — contacting journalists, exposing what’s happened. But I am terrified that doing so will be used against me. As a foreign mother, I have already been treated not as a human being, but as a legal inconvenience. As if my only role was to carry a child, then disappear. I fear retaliation from the father and the Danish authorities who have already tried to erase my presence from my daughter’s life.
Still, I have followed every law. Obeyed every order. I remain in Denmark, despite being isolated, financially broken, and unable to work — because if I leave, they will say I abandoned her, and I may never see her again.
But I will not give up. I’m asking for your help so I can continue fighting through legal channels to be reunited with my daughter. To do this, I urgently need to raise funds to cover legal representation and court expenses. My next step is to bring my case before the European Court of Human Rights—where similar cases have been heard, and where Denmark can be held politically and legally accountable for this injustice and the violation of our rights.
I refuse to let my daughter grow up thinking she was abandoned. I refuse to let her believe her mother is gone. She has not lost me — and I will never stop fighting to show her that.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for standing with us in this painful and critical fight.
With love and unwavering gratitude,
Melo & Isla
How You Can Help:
Donate – Any amount will bring us closer to safety and justice.
Share Our Story – Amplify our fight by sharing this message with your networks.
Sign the Petition – Support reforms to the misuse of the Hague Convention to protect survivors and their children.
Share this page and Article:
https://www.raadvild.dk/post/danish-family-law-system-is-breaking-the-human-rights-of-children-and-battered-parents?fbclid=IwY2xjawJSQlxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHY6FhRKDU5rEoD0GdtfshsBMjOUdMQbsYiLRusPOgGW0CyWgRDNozuIdMg_aem_84kguYJJxt9ds2nreMmYXA
Link to Petition Your support is not just for us but for countless others who face similar battles in silence.
https://www.change.org/p/reform-the-hague-convention-to-prevent-its-misuse-in-domestic-violence-cases
Together, we can expose these injustices, demand accountability, and pave the way for a future where survivors and their children are truly protected.
Thank you for standing with us.
Organizer
Melissa Silva
Organizer
Pompano Beach, FL