Safety Across Borders (CLE)

Viewable free of charge on-demand at WestLegalEdcenter (Not available for CLE credit)

Safety Across Borders CLE

This course delves into the complex aspects of international child abduction cases in U.S. courts involving allegations of domestic violence. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is explored. Potential gender-based bias against mothers who have fled from one country to another to protect themselves and their children  is explored.

The course includes staged readings of actual transcripts of interviews with U.S. mothers and their attorneys from a recent study supported by the US Department of Justice. These readings will be interspersed with discussion by internationally recognized legal and social science experts. Topics covered will include:

  • When residence in another country is the result of coercion or deception
  • Defenses for preventing the return of a child
  • Defining a child’s domestic violence exposure as a grave risk
  • Undertakings, mirror orders and what happens after a child is returned when domestic violence is present