Opinion piece on orphanage trafficking by Ms. Linda Reynolds, member of the Senate of Australia
Today, more than 50 million of our fellow human beings have been trafficked into slavery. As legislators, determining how to effectively tackle such a complex problem can be overwhelming. As a member of the Senate of Australia, I found a good place to start is with the up to 5.4 million children globally who are trafficked into unregulated orphanages. This practice, known as “orphanage trafficking”, involves the recruitment or transfer of children into residential care institutions for the purpose of exploitation and profit. When these children are relocated to an institution, many lose contact with their families and are provided with false identity documents to legitimize their classification as orphans.
When combating orphanage trafficking, it is helpful to differentiate between “sending” and “receiving” countries.
Sending – or contributing – countries are those where well-meaning individuals and organizations donate money to, or volunteer in, orphanages. Unfortunately, the good intentions of donors and volunteers is often exploited by orphanage operators, who prioritize profit over the well-being of children in their care. These orphanages often present a facade of care and compassion, attracting support while simultaneously perpetuating the trafficking cycle.
Receiving – or occurring – countries are typically those with high rates of poverty, social instability or conflict. These factors can make families vulnerable and susceptible to deceptive recruitment practices. Children in these countries are targeted because they are perceived as easier to manipulate or because their families lack the resources and knowledge to protect them. Recruiters promise a better life, education and even the basic necessities. This can be a powerful lure, masking the true exploitative nature of orphanage trafficking. Often, these countries lack robust child protection systems, making it difficult to monitor orphanages and prevent trafficking.
This is a relatively recent form of trafficking and slavery. Perversely, it has occurred because demand in sending countries to support orphaned children far outstrips the natural supply of orphans in receiving countries. The fact is that, today, there are many more generous donors and volunteers who want to help orphans than there are genuine orphans. Operators of these institutions know that they can make significant profits from international donations and volunteers who pay for the experience of supporting orphans. To meet this demand, children are sourced by child traffickers from vulnerable families.
Sending countries do not yet fully understand the risks of orphanage tourism and volunteering and the connection to the trafficking and the exploitation of children. Australia has started to address this issue by regulating charities’ involvement with overseas orphanages, including restricting government funding and implementing regulatory measures for charities operating internationally. These regulations categorize residential care for children, overseas volunteering and child sponsorship as high-risk activities, requiring charities to adhere to minimum safeguarding standards both in Australia and in the host country. This effectively makes Australian organizations that support unregistered overseas institutions, such as by sending volunteers or facilitating orphanage tourism, ineligible for charitable status.
Alongside regulatory efforts, public awareness campaigns play a key role in educating potential volunteers and donors about the harms of orphanage tourism and the importance of supporting family-based alternatives.
Governments in receiving countries can be assisted by sending countries to prioritize family-based care over institutionalization. Research shows that at least 80% of children in orphanages have living relatives who, with proper support, could care for them. Instead of supporting institutional models, governments can invest in social services that strengthen families, enforce child protection laws and begin a process of deinstitutionalization. Child welfare systems can also be developed to detect and respond to cases of orphanage trafficking, ensure traffickers are prosecuted, and reintegrate children into their own family or place them with a foster family.
The good news is that, since this form of trafficking and slavery has been driven by the behaviour of volunteers and donors, it can be ended by encouraging them to support state-sponsored family-based care instead of institutionalization. Shifting support from residential models of care to strengthening families and family-based models of care affords parents the opportunity to care for their children. Families provide the love, sense of belonging and identity children need to thrive into adulthood, in ways that institutions cannot.
In recent years, legislation addressing slavery and trafficking in persons has been based on the “three Ps” model: prevention, protection and prosecution. However, orphanage trafficking is a transnational crime that requires a coordinated global response between sending and receiving countries. Therefore, a fourth “P” is now required: partnerships. These collaborative partnerships, domestic and global, are needed to gain and sustain the required momentum to advocate, legislate and educate against orphanage trafficking.
The fight against orphanage trafficking demands more than just awareness. It requires action. This includes enacting legislation to prosecute those involved in trafficking children into institutional care and redirecting resources towards family-based care to prevent child institutionalization.
Ms. Linda Reynolds is a member of the Senate of Australia and a global advocate in the fight against modern slavery. As Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, she championed the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2018. On the global stage, she represents Australia at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and is a co-rapporteur on orphanage trafficking. In 2023, she presented a groundbreaking resolution on orphanage trafficking at the 147th IPU Assembly, held in Luanda, Angola. The resolution was adopted by consensus by the IPU’s Member Parliaments, marking the first global action on orphanage trafficking.
For more on orphanage trafficking, watch the seminar on Legislative strategies to end orphanage trafficking
The views and opinions expressed by parliamentarians and experts on IPU platforms are their own and do not necessarily reflect the IPU’s position.
