This column from Volume 23 of the American University Washington College of Law Human Rights Brief explores the links between child abuse in Cambodian orphanages and tourism, including the overlap between orphanage tourism and sex tourism. The column notes that "despite there being fewer orphans, the number of orphanages and children living in orphanages has doubled" and that "many low income families are persuaded by institution directors to place their children in residential care facilities, thinking that their children will have better lives there, with access to food, education, and medical care." However, "the reality is that many children in residential care institutions are subjected to abuse and neglect," the column continues. "Some institutions force children to make handicrafts or force them to perform dances for visiting tourists — making these institutions the means of a type of modern slavery."
"Thus, the demand for this type of tourism led to an increased number of children in residential care institutions who are significantly more likely to be exposed to physical and sexual abuse, as well as deliberate under-nourishment to solicit more donations." The column concludes by calling on the Cambodian Government "to implement policies that prevent unlicensed orphanages and untrained volunteers from working with children to be compliant with its international legal obligations under [the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention against Torture]." The column also urges that "the role that foreign governments play in their citizens perpetuating the institutionalization of children in Cambodia must be recognized on a global scale."
