Addicted to Orphans: How the Global Orphan Industrial Complex Jeopardizes Local Child Protection Systems

Cheney, Kristen E.; Rotabi, Karen Smith

doi:10.1007/978-981-4585-98-9_3-1

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Today, this paternalistic view is being reinforced through the work of child-centered intergovernmental organizations during periods of famine, armed conflict, and interventions related to containing the spread of HIV/AIDS and its social effects across numerous African countries. For close to two decades now, the dominant western imagination of children on the African continent is one of 'orphans', resulting from UNICEF's long-standing and on-going "Africa's orphan crisis" rhetoric, which has been picked up and propagated by other international governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, national governments, as well as tour companies (Cheney and Rotabi 2014) .…”

Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In its efforts to underscore the plight of children affected by HIV/AIDS, in the early 2000s, UNICEF further introduced a broader definition of 'orphan', which was stretched to include even children who are left with one living parent (Cheney and Rotabi 2014). Orphaned children falling under the 'original' definition of orphan are thus termed 'double orphans', while those in the latter category are termed 'single orphans ' (UNICEF (2003' (UNICEF ( , 2006).…”

Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Orphaned children falling under the 'original' definition of orphan are thus termed 'double orphans', while those in the latter category are termed 'single orphans ' (UNICEF (2003' (UNICEF ( , 2006). The organization also widened its concern to include 'vulnerable children', understood as children who are themselves affected by HIV/AIDS (they themselves or one or both of their parents are HIV positive) or more generally, children who are affected by poverty, exclusion, or discrimination (their vulnerability being related or not to HIV/AIDS) (UNICEF 2003, p. 11;UNICEF 2006;Cheney and Rotabi 2014).…”

Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Children’s Personal Data: Discursive Legitimation Strategies of Private Residential Care Institutions on the Kenyan Coast

Chege

2018

Social Sciences

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This article looks at how charity organizations running private residential child care institutions on the Kenyan coast make use of the personal data of children in their care, as a means of securing and maintaining the support of donors from the global North. The strategy involves the online showcasing of children's profiles-individual children's photos, accompanied by their names, birth dates, annual development, and their emotion-inducing personal and/or family histories are posted on the respective organizations' websites, making them accessible to the global public. I analyze and problematize this practice, positing that while it explicitly serves fund-raising purposes and is motivated by the search for cost-effective fund-raising-oriented communication, at a more implicit level, it is equally a strategy used to discursively legitimize the organizations and their child 'rescue' activities, within the contemporary climate of deinstitutionalization. This strategy results in a violation of children's rights; has ethical implications; and is not without consequences for the concerned children's well-being.

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Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intersection Of Western Humanitarianism and Literary And Vismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Children’s Personal Data: Discursive Legitimation Strategies of Private Residential Care Institutions on the Kenyan Coast

Chege

2018

Social Sciences

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“…Conversely, in several countries in Eastern and Central Europe, and in numerous countries on the Asian and African continents and in the global South more generally, the reverse has been happening: the number of residential child care institutions and the number of children said to be deprived of parental care-indiscriminately and strategically identified as 'orphans'-have increased tremendously (Opening Doors 2012; Cheney and Rotabi 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kenya’s Over-Reliance on Institutionalization as a Child Care and Child Protection Model: A Root-Cause Approach

Chege¹,

Ucembe²

2020

Social Sciences

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Institutionalization of children who are deprived of parental care is a thriving phenomenon in the global South, and has generated considerable concern both nationally and internationally, in the last two decades. In Kenya, the number of children growing up in live-in care institutions has been growing ever since the country’s early post-independence years. Although legislative and regulatory measures aimed at child protection have been in place for a number of years now, and the national government appears to be standing by the commitment it expressed in recent times to implement care reform which encompasses de-institutionalization, the national child protection system remains very dependent on institutional care. Against the backdrop of a global and national movement towards de-institutionalization of child care and child protection, in this paper we tease out the range of factors reinforcing Kenya’s over-reliance on live-in institutions as a child care and child protection model. Numerous factors—structural, political, economic, socio-cultural, and legal—contribute to the complexity of the issue. We highlight this complexity, bringing together different angles, while pointing out the interests of the different stakeholders in reinforcing institutional care. We argue that the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of the intended change from institutional care to alternative family-based care requires that a root-cause approach be adopted in addressing the underlying child care and child protection issues.

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“…This paper outlines the steps that Australia has taken since the release of the Hidden in Plain Sight Report to stem the flow of funding and volunteers to orphanages overseas. It outlines how policy and legislative reform have taken place in the regulation of charities, voluntourism and modern slavery to attempt to impact Australia's unwitting participation in the 'orphanage industry' (Cheney & Rotabi, 2015). The paper details government action from advertising and awareness campaigns to the requirement to report on the mitigation of the potential of orphanage trafficking in corporate supply chains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulating Australia’s Participation in the Orphanage Industry

Doore

2020

Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond

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Orphanages harness the goodwill of volunteers, visitors and donors to generate funding. However, in recent years, evidence has emerged that in some cases children are being recruited or trafficked into orphanages in order to generate profit from this goodwill. This is known as the ‘orphanage industry’, and the recruitment of children into orphanages for the purpose of profit and exploitation is ‘orphanage trafficking’. Australia is reported to be the largest funder of residential care for children in South East Asia. In 2017, Australia became the first government in the world to consider orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery. This article traces the evolution of the recognition of orphanage trafficking broadly, and then focusses on recommendations made by the Australian government following the release of its 2017 Hidden in Plain Sight Report. This article analyses the emerging policy and legislative reforms that are being undertaken by the Australian government and recommends further development to ensure that funding and finances are appropriately directed to divest from orphanages and instead support burgeoning care reform in the South Asian region. Finally, the article responds to critiques of the Australian government’s standpoint on orphanage trafficking as it relates to the over-reliance on institutional care and provides clarification on why a criminal justice response to orphanage trafficking is appropriate.

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Addicted to Orphans: How the Global Orphan Industrial Complex Jeopardizes Local Child Protection Systems

Cited by 11 publications

References 11 publications

Children’s Personal Data: Discursive Legitimation Strategies of Private Residential Care Institutions on the Kenyan Coast

Children’s Personal Data: Discursive Legitimation Strategies of Private Residential Care Institutions on the Kenyan Coast

Kenya’s Over-Reliance on Institutionalization as a Child Care and Child Protection Model: A Root-Cause Approach

Regulating Australia’s Participation in the Orphanage Industry

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