The work of two University of Minnesota researchers will be presented in a unique program at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on December 10. The program, Seeking Safety Across Borders, is centered on the work of a team, including School of Social Work Professor Jeffrey Edleson, director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse, and Sudha Shetty, Esq., director of the International Fellowship Program at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, from the Hague Domestic Violence Project. The researchers, as part of a recently completed study funded by the Institute of Justice, investigated the fates of battered mothers and their children who sought safety in the United States. The study found that many of these mothers faced civil court actions for child abduction, and the majority had their children sent back to the country from which they fled, often into the custody of their abusive partners.

Actors from the Guthrie Theater will provide staged readings of these mothers’ stories, as told to Edleson, Shetty and their colleagues. The readings will be interspersed with commentary by leading scholars in law and social science.

The program, which will be held from 1:30 to 4 p.m., will be broadcast live over the Internet. It is free, and social work and legal continuing education credits are available. Register online at the West LegalEdcenter. See the program flyer for details.