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.

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ACCI Missions & Relief,

This animated video from ACCI Missions & Relief explains how short-term missions in orphanages are harmful to children, why volunteers should avoid volunteering in orphanages overseas, and what kind of programs should be supported instead. 

Elevate Children Funders Group,

This infographic from the Elevate Children Funders Group describes how private donors add to "the pull factors drawing more vulnerable children into institutional care and away from family or community care" in Haiti.

ACCI Missions & Relief,

This briefing note has been written to give Australian charities currently engaging with overseas residential care institutions an overview of the issue and an understanding of some of the potential ramifications of the proposed Modern Slavery legislation.

Elevate Children Funders Group,

This policy brief from the Elevate Children Funders Group describes how private donors add to "the pull factors drawing more vulnerable children into institutional care and away from family or community care" in Nepal.

Elevate Children Funders Group,

This policy brief from the Elevate Children Funders Group describes how private donors add to "the pull factors drawing more vulnerable children into institutional care and away from family or community care" in Haiti.

Elevate Children Funders Group,

This infographic from the Elevate Children Funders Group describes how private donors add to the "pull factors drawing more vulnerable children into institutional care and away from family or community care."

ACCI Missions & Relief,

This briefing note has been written to give Australian churches an overview of the issue of orphanage tourism and an understanding of the likely ramifications of the legislation for churches.

Andrea Lee Freidus - Journal of Sustainable Tourism ,

This project adds to the newly emerging literature on orphan tourism. In-depth, open-ended interviews and participant observations were conducted over a three-month period with American travelers to a Malawian orphanage between 2009 and 2010.

Better Volunteering Better Care,

Better Volunteering Better Care (BVBC) responds to a blog by the Executive Director of the volunteer travel company IVHQ expressing his views about the benefits of orphanage volunteering.

Better Volunteering Better Care,

This infographic produced by Better Volunteering Better Care explains in an accessible way why we should say NO to international volunteering in orphanages (residential care centres).