Orphanage Tourism, Voluntourism and Trafficking

A growing evidence base has consistently highlighted the negative impact on children of living in institutional care such as orphanages – especially when parents or close family members are still living nearby. The increasing trend in volunteering in or visiting these facilities compounds the issue and the impact on children. Not only does it encourage the expansion of orphanages, but it also makes children vulnerable to abuse in those areas where regulation is lax, creates attachment problems in children who become attached to short-term visitors, and can heighten the risk for unregulated inter-country adoption by well-intentioned volunteers who form a bond with a child and want to take them home.

This section highlights resources focused on international volunteering, tourism, and donations in residential care centres.

Key facts about orphanages and orphanage volunteering

Millions of children worldwide live in residential institutional settings such as orphanages – yet an estimated 80% are not actually orphans and have at least one living parent
Poverty is one of the main drivers for a child to be placed in an orphanage – to access basic services including education and health care
Decades of research show that living in orphanages is harmful to children – the effect continuing into adulthood
There is now a global response to move away from orphanages towards strengthening families, to prevent the needless separation of their children
Well-meaning support for orphanages – through donations, volunteering, tourist trips and faith-based mission – is challenging care reform efforts. This support would be much better directed if channelled towards strengthening families
Despite the best intentions of volunteers and short-term mission teams, the transient nature of orphanage volunteering is harmful to children. Without a family to make them feel secure, children are quick to form relationships with arriving volunteers, only to feel abandoned once again when they leave.
Sadly, our desire to help children overseas has resulted in a rise in orphanages in some countries – to generate income from donations and volunteers. This has resulted in children from poor communities being exploited and trafficked to pose as orphans to attract donors, volunteers and tourists.

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Better Volunteering Better Care Engagement Strategy

Better Volunteering, Better Care Initiative , 2014

This report presents the strategic thinking and proposed stages of development of the Better Volunteering Better Care initiative, as a result of its work during its first year.

International Volunteering: Trends and Insights

Better Volunteering, Better Care Initiative , 2014

This report - from the Better Volunteering, Better Care Initiative and its members - seeks to understand the trends and motivating factors for volunteerism in care centres for children.

Better Volunteering, Better Care Executive Summary

Better Volunteering, Better Care Initiative, 2014

In 2013 The Better Care Network and Save the Children UK began an inter-agency initiative to review and share existing knowledge on international volunteerism as related to the alternative care of children in developing countries.

The Paradox of Orphanage Volunteering: Combating Child Trafficking Through Ethical Voluntourism

Martin Punaks & Katie Feit, Next Generation Nepal , 2014

This report from Next Generation Nepal shows how orphanage volunteering is fueling child trafficking and exploitation in Nepal. It makes recommendations for how to practice ethical volunteering.

The Orphan and the Saviour - a Relationship of Love, Gratitude and Commodities : A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Construction of the Narrative about the Helper and the Orphanage Child

Britta Holmberg - Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Child and Youth Studies, 2014

This study explores the construction of the orphanage child and the helper in the context of voluntourism, orphanage tourism, support and establishment of orphanages.

Encountering Abusive Orphanages in Nepal: Advice for Members of the Public

Next Generation Nepal , 2014

This is a short paper produced by Next Generation Nepal (NGN) to advise members of the public and tourists who may encounter child trafficking or child abuse in children's homes or orphanages in Nepal.

Current Status of Child Care Institutions and Institutionalized Children in Sri Lanka: A Situational Analysis

Department of Probation and Child Care Services, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, 2013

The objective of this study was to provide basic information on the current situation of children under institutional care in the entire country of Sri Lanka, in order to identify the issues affecting those institutionalized children and to recommend plausible solutions.

No Child’s Play: Respect for Children’s Rights at Tourist Destinations - Examples from Thailand, Cambodia & South Africa

Schyst Resande - Fair Trade Center , 2013

This report was commissioned by the Swedish network Schyst Resande and conducted by the Fair Trade Center, with the overall objective of raising awareness of children’s rights in relation to tourism and travel destinations which many Swedish tourists visit.

‘Boy, have we got a vacation for you’: Orphanage Tourism in Cambodia and the Commodification and Objectification of the Orphaned Child

P. Jane Reas, 2013

As part of a wider qualitative study of the volunteering experience, this paper seeks to critique the problematic relationship between a touristic experience and the needs of Cambodia’s poor children.

‘Orphanage Tourism’ in Cambodia: When Residential Care Centres Become Tourist Attractions

Tess Guiney - Pacific News #38 , 02 May 2012

This research investigates the forms that ‘orphanage tourism’ takes in Cambodia and the impacts of this popular phenomenon on those who are purported to benefit: orphanages and orphans.