UW News

October 15, 2002

Expert on reuniting families to speak at University of Washington

An expert on children who were taken from their homes in the United Kingdom and shipped off to labor in other countries will speak at the University of Washington on Nov. 15 about issues related to reuniting children and personal identity.

Because of the work of Margaret Humphreys, hundreds of former child migrants have reclaimed their identities and been reunited with their families after decades of separation.

Humphreys will lecture and show a video from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, in Hogness Auditorium in the UW Health Sciences Center. Her talk is sponsored by the UW School of Nursing and School of Social Work.

Humphreys, a social worker, is the international director and founder of the Child Migrants Trust. She has worked on behalf of those who were sent abroad from the United Kingdom as young and vulnerable children, often without the knowledge or consent of their parents and families, and sometimes subjected to hard labor and abuse. Her work has been the subject of a novel and several television programs, including an Emmy Award-winning episode of 60 Minutes II called “The Lost Children.”

Her talk at the University is titled, “Identity, Abuse and Separation: Psychosocial and Health Implications of Reclaiming Identity and Reuniting Families after 50 Years of Separation.”

In 1993, Humphreys was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her services to humanity, with particular reference to her work on behalf of the migrants. She is one of few Britons to receive the honor.

For more information, see http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/child_migrants/ and http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/03/24/60II/main40269.shtml

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