'Orphanage Trafficking in International Law': The Book Exploring the Trafficking of Children through Orphanages 

Dr. Kathryn E. van Moore is a child rights lawyer, and an internationally recognised expert on orphanage trafficking. She is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith Law School, and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Children, Law & Ethics at Samford University, USA. She also sits on several boards of national and international cooperation in tackling orphanage trafficking, and is Co-Founder of Forget Me Not Australia, an INGO focused on child protection and family reunification. Kate's research and advocacy has awarded her with the Anti-Slavery Australia Freedrom Award in 2017, and a feature by Foreign Correspondent in 2020.

Understanding Orphanage Trafficking

There are an estimated 5.3 million children living in residential care, or orphanages, globally and it’s estimated that over 80% of those children have a parent alive that could be raising them if they were properly supported. In some low- and middle-income countries, orphanages have become a first port of call for any childhood vulnerability.

Children are often sent to orphanages as a means of accessing education, better social infrastructure, medical care, and in many instances, the promise of a better life. Because orphanages have proliferated to meet these needs, a business model has also arisen where orphanage operators recruit children into their care with the specific intention of touting them as orphans to raise funds and make a profit.

This profit is made through international funding of orphanages via charities and organisations, and people volunteering and visiting in orphanages, often as part of a tourist experience. Where a child is recruited to be utilised to garner funding in this manner, it is called ‘orphanage trafficking’, a form of child trafficking. This is the subject of my new book, ‘Orphanage Trafficking in International Law’.

"Children are often sent to orphanages as a means of accessing education, better social infrastructure, medical care, and in many instances, the promise of a better life. Because orphanages have proliferated to meet these needs, a business model has also arisen where orphanage operators recruit children into their care with the specific intention of touting them as orphans to raise funds and make a profit." 

'Orphanage Trafficking in International Law'

This book explores the process of orphanage trafficking as a form of child trafficking in international law, examining the contexts in which it occurs and providing a comprehensive, holistic approach to addressing the issue as a form of trafficking.

In doing so, I establish the method and process of orphanage trafficking as an issue of international concern and one that countries should work together to tackle.

It outlines specifically what steps countries where orphanage trafficking occurs should take legislatively to combat the issue, and similarly what steps countries who contribute to orphanage trafficking via funding and sending visitors and volunteers to orphanages should do.

I have had the privilege of working with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK on raising awareness on the issue of orphanage trafficking, most particularly at the Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on The Role of Parliamentary Committees in Combatting Human Trafficking & Forced Labour held in Perth, Australia in late 2019, which highlighted orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery and encouraged parliamentarians to think about the positive role that Parliamentary Committees can play in combating these heinous practices.

"I have had the privilege of working with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK on raising awareness on the issue of orphanage trafficking...which highlighted orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery and encouraged parliamentarians to think about the positive role that Parliamentary Committees can play in combating these heinous practices."

Relevantly, the Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform was unanimously agreed to at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in July 2022.

This Declaration recognises the link between well-meaning support through international aid, donations, orphanage volunteering, mission trips or tourist visit, and the institutionalisation of children, and committed the Commonwealth to putting in place measures to address the elimination of child labour in all its forms, forced labour, trafficking and sexual exploitation.

I look forward to continuing to work together with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK and Parliamentarians to combat orphanage trafficking. Please contact me if you are interested in talking about this issue on k.vandoore@griffith.edu.au