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Campaign against orphanage tourism builds, as second global agency quits business
ABC News
EXCLUSIVE BY RUBY JONES
UPDATED ABOUT 8 HOURS AGO (as at 09:31 AEDT 8 November 2017)
PHOTO The highlighted countries have seen a rise in institutionalised children.
SUPPLIED: CAMBODIAN CHILDRENS TRUST
One of the biggest 'voluntourism' companies in the world is cutting ties with all overseas orphanages as momentum against orphanage tourism builds.
Key points:
The company is responding to research into the orphanage 'industry', which shows many children in orphanages have living family members, Australia manager Will Pashley said.
"It has become clear that there are a growing number of orphanage-type settings where it is effectively child trafficking," he said.
We [are] confident we have not been working in those sorts of areas, but it is obviously a huge concern that there is such growth in that area."
A recent Australian parliamentary committee heard many of the children in orphanages are not orphans, and are being exploited to satisfy a demand from well-meaning Australians to volunteer.
Many of the children came from poor backgrounds and some were stolen or trafficked to fulfil the demand created by tourists, said West Australian Senator Linda Reynolds, who is on the parliamentary inquiry committee into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.
Orphanage trips are marketed as a way for people to travel while giving back to the community they are visiting, and thousands of Australians visit orphanages every year.
But institutionalised care harms children's development, and volunteers on short stays compound abandonment issues, according to advocacy group ReThink Orphanages.
Up to 90 per cent of children in overseas orphanages actually have a living family member, ReThink's coordinator Leigh Mathews said.
Projects Abroad is the second company to exit the orphanage volunteer tourism industry in recent months, after World Challenge's September announcement.
Read more at:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-08/campaign-against-orphanage-tourism-builds/9127950
Related:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...dian-children-orphanage-tourism-trade/8668506
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...student-volunteer-trips-to-orphanages/8892142
ABC News
EXCLUSIVE BY RUBY JONES
UPDATED ABOUT 8 HOURS AGO (as at 09:31 AEDT 8 November 2017)
PHOTO The highlighted countries have seen a rise in institutionalised children.
SUPPLIED: CAMBODIAN CHILDRENS TRUST
One of the biggest 'voluntourism' companies in the world is cutting ties with all overseas orphanages as momentum against orphanage tourism builds.
Key points:
- Many of the children in orphanages are not orphans, parliamentary committee hears
- Some children are stolen or trafficked to fulfil the demand created by tourists
- Orphanage trips are marketed as a way for people to travel, back to the community
The company is responding to research into the orphanage 'industry', which shows many children in orphanages have living family members, Australia manager Will Pashley said.
"It has become clear that there are a growing number of orphanage-type settings where it is effectively child trafficking," he said.
We [are] confident we have not been working in those sorts of areas, but it is obviously a huge concern that there is such growth in that area."
A recent Australian parliamentary committee heard many of the children in orphanages are not orphans, and are being exploited to satisfy a demand from well-meaning Australians to volunteer.
Many of the children came from poor backgrounds and some were stolen or trafficked to fulfil the demand created by tourists, said West Australian Senator Linda Reynolds, who is on the parliamentary inquiry committee into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.
Orphanage trips are marketed as a way for people to travel while giving back to the community they are visiting, and thousands of Australians visit orphanages every year.
But institutionalised care harms children's development, and volunteers on short stays compound abandonment issues, according to advocacy group ReThink Orphanages.
Up to 90 per cent of children in overseas orphanages actually have a living family member, ReThink's coordinator Leigh Mathews said.
"Most children in orphanages don't need to be there, and we also know that children are harmed by growing up in orphanages," she said.
Projects Abroad is the second company to exit the orphanage volunteer tourism industry in recent months, after World Challenge's September announcement.
Read more at:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-08/campaign-against-orphanage-tourism-builds/9127950
Related:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...dian-children-orphanage-tourism-trade/8668506
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...student-volunteer-trips-to-orphanages/8892142
