Battered Women, Their Children, and International Law ─ The Unintended Consequences of the Hague Child Abduction Convention

Negotiating the dissolution of transnational personal relationships is extremely complicated. Women whose partners are abusive often turn to family members for assistance. When this means leaving one nation for another with one's children, Hague Convention (1980) international treaties come into play. All too often, the mother is charged with child abduction and forced to return the children to an abusive father. Drawing on a series of true-life stories, the authors reveal important dimensions of domestic law, interpretations of children's best interests, and the legal rationales required to ensure safety for battered women and their children across international boundaries.

TARYN LINDHORST is Carol LaMare Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington. JEFFREY L. EDLESON is a professor and the director of research at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and director of the Minnesota Center against Violence and Abuse.