Author J.K. Rowling has taken to Twitter to speak out against "voluntourism" and the well-meaning, but misled, tourists who volunteer at orphanages abroad.
In a series of long-running tweets posted on Sunday, August 21, Rowling wrote about the why the rise of voluntourism, particularly when it comes to working in orphanages in developing countries, does more harm than any good.
Such countries, like all countries, need systems that support children in their own families https://t.co/PIsy49iKeP https://t.co/9XT73i0p91
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 23, 2016
@docbhooshan Agreed. The issue is complex and every country needs tailored solutions. More info on what we do: https://t.co/6wnhNrUoei 1/2
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 23, 2016
@docbhooshan @lumos works with in-country experts and government to achieve deinstitutionalisation. Research is clear: orphanages damage.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 23, 2016@docbhooshan ... sometimes (3/2!) irreversibly, if the child has been institutionalised from very young age.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 23, 2016
Such an important point. Children in 'orphanages' learn behaviour that makes them even more vulnerable. https://t.co/wecAF0UBgj
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 23, 2016
Rowling raised the issue after a charity asked the writer to promote their work connecting tourists with orphanages on Twitter, she explained.
But in reference to her children's charity Lumos, which works "to end the institutionalization of children", Rowling pointed out that neither she nor her charity endorses the trend, calling voluntourism one of the drivers breaking up families in poor countries and incentivizing orphanages to run as a business.
"Globally, poverty is the no. 1 reason that children are institutionalised. Well-intentioned Westerners supporting orphanages...perpetuates this highly damaging system and encourages the creation of more institutions as money magnets," Rowling tweeted.
Rowling isn't the first to highlight the controversy over voluntourism.
Different groups including NGOs and travel experts have pointed out that some orphanages are nothing more than child trafficking operations.
A report from UNICEF, for instance, found that 75 percent of children in Cambodian orphanages are not orphans at all but have at least one living parent.
In some cases, children are deliberately separated from their families, or parents and relatives are talked into sending their children away in exchange for money.
"Further, while orphanage volunteers are generally well-intentioned they often do not realize they could inadvertently cause harm to children," reads an explainer from UNICEF.
"Volunteering for short periods of time without appropriate skills and training could contribute to a repeated sense of abandonment felt by already vulnerable children."
Not all unis support orphanage volunteering. We echo @lumos & @jk_rowling's call for its end https://t.co/C5WrxycWxS pic.twitter.com/pVPcmDg6Gd
— LSE Volunteer Centre (@LSEVolunteering) August 23, 2016