By Miriam Karmall, from Freedom United

August 11th was International Youth Day.

Today, you can take a stand against orphanage trafficking and call for an end to the cycle of abuse that’s putting children at risk while in institutional care.

Thank you for taking action on the campaign to end orphanage trafficking – you’ve joined over 100,000 supporters around the world calling on volunteer tour operators to take a stand. Together,we’ve been able to successfully convince volunteer tour operators, Global Vision International and African Impact, to stop orphanage placements.

Unfortunately, their peers – Go Overseas, Work Away, Love Volunteers, and Plan My Gap Year – have yet to follow their lead. 

So, to mark International Youth Day we’re taking to social media to urge them to follow suit and we want you to join in!

Tweet to #EndOrphanageTrafficking

Simply put, these organizations need to take a hard look at the evidence and recognize the risks of volunteer placements at orphanages. A recent report from NGO Lumos highlighted that:

“Children in institutions are sometimes subjected to forced labor through the act of “selling their time” to others in order to elicit donations and sponsorship for the institution.”[1]

The United States Trafficking in Persons report even notes thatforeigners sexually exploited children by donating to orphanages or promising to pay their school fees in order to gain access to children.[2] It’s not just about donations. In Ukraine, an orphanage worker was found guilty of attempting to sell a girl under her care to organ harvesters for $10,000.[3] And this month in Nigeria the government nabbed an orphanage child trafficker who abducted children or duped their parents by promising to care for them and enroll them in school.[4]   Furthermore, as Lumos says:

“Children in institutions are one of the most vulnerable groups because of the environment around them or lack of services. But they [the institutions] are seen as doing good. This is almost the perfect cover.”[5]

This is not to say that all orphanages are engaging in human trafficking, but the evidence is clear that institutional care endangers children and many orphanages around the world have been used as a front for trafficking, tricking well-meaning volunteers. To support International Youth Day, join us in amplifying our call on Go Overseas, WorkAway, Love Volunteers and Plan My Gap Year to take a stand against orphanage trafficking.   In solidarity,   Miriam and the Freedom United team