Commodified Children: Globalization and the Growth of Voluntourism

by Caitlin Cocilova

 

It was 6 AM. We had woken up early enough to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat and waited patiently along the edge of the water, cameras in hand, to snap that one perfect shot of the majestic temple. I took a break from the view to find the nearest outhouse and was met by a young child asking for the bathroom fee. Being that I was in no position to negotiate at the moment, I quickly handed over the money and passed the child into the restroom. When I left, he was gone, and I knew I had been tricked.

At the beginning of our weeklong educational trip to Cambodia, our PEPY tour guides warned us not to give money to child beggars, explaining how the majority of begging children do not receive the benefits of their efforts and are instead exploited by adults seeking to collect additional wages. Naturally, tourists are attracted to performing charitable deeds while vacationing in developing countries and tend to do so through direct donations to children. What vacationers often fail to realize, however, is the negative implications of their seemingly helpful actions. In recent years, these harmful charitable practices have become especially prevalent within orphanages, which are increasingly common travel destinations for kind-hearted visitors. The conditions children are subjected to in such orphanages, however, frequently defy the provisions set forth in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which 193 countries are parties, including all of those cited in this post with the exception of Bali. By encouraging mandatory security checks for volunteers working with vulnerable populations, promoting governmental action, and educating well-intentioned travelers on the negative effects of “voluntourism,” children will hopefully be seen less as commodities and more as dignified members of a future generation, members who must be afforded their fundamental rights.

The Expanding Orphanage Industry

Entrepreneurs have jumped on the opportunity to participate in a business model supported by travelers’ desires to “do good” while vacationing, specifically by opening orphanages that ultimately induce tourist support. Over the past decade, the number of orphanages not registered with their respective governments has more than doubled in several developing countries, including Cambodia, Bali, Ghana, Haiti, South Africa and Afghanistan. As reported by Mail Online, this rise in institutions is not the result of an influx of orphaned children, but is rather in response to the recognition of orphanages as profit-building mechanisms. In many instances, orphanage directors withhold donations instead of providing additional services and better living conditions for children so as to gain higher profits; by making children look especially impoverished, malnourished, and deserted, directors are able to attract more sympathetic tourists and increase personal monetary gains. In order to sustain these businesses, the demand for children has increased, as well. Children become pawns in the strategic tourist market, dangled in front of visitors by orphanage directors as if they were colorful silk scarves waiting to catch the eye of the next passing tourist.

Despite Criminalization, FGM Persists in Egypt

by Mai El-Sadany
Twitter: @MaiE_89

Source: Flickr

In what was considered by many to be a legal and at least superficial victory, on February 3, 2013, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court rejected a lawsuit challenging the illegality of female genital mutilation (FGM). The lawsuit was filed in 2008 to challenge a decision by the Ministry of Health in 2007 to criminalize the practice, claiming that the ban violated the principles of Sharia. FGM had been made illegal in the country in 1997, and in 2006, the head of Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most prominent Islamic institution, denounced the practice and distanced it from religious traditions (and again reiterated this position in 2008 and 2011).

Despite the solid legal stance against FGM in the country, the practice remains pervasive in Egyptian society and it is unclear to what degree the most recent court ruling will have an effect on the day-to-day lives of Egyptian women. In a country that has recently completed the drafting and ratification of its constitution and continues to undergo a transition period where rule of law and implementation of both national legal codes and international standards has largely been absent, the outlook is not a positive one.

About 91 percent of all women aged 15 to 49 have been circumcised in Egypt; while the numbers are showing a slight decrease among younger generations, the practice remains common. The procedure is often performed on young girls and considered by many to be a “rite of passage” into adulthood. Although there are multiple ways to carry out FGM, the procedure generally involves the removal of the clitoris, along with all or part of the labia minora. Although historically conducted by traditional birth attendants without anesthetic or appropriate medical care, more and more licensed doctors and nurses are carrying out the procedure. FGM has been regarded as a means to preserve the woman’s virginity before marriage for the sake of both culture and religion by decreasing her sexual desire. Although many in Egypt believe that the practice is based in religion, others unequivocally deny this. The side effects of FGM and poor after-care of the invasive procedure can range from minor infections to long-standing psychological issues, problems with menstruation and childbirth, extreme ailments, bleeding for days, and in some cases, death.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: A Risky Step Forward for Youth Immigrant Rights

by Adina Appelbaum

Twitter: @abappelbaum

On July 15, 2012, the Obama Administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, a program that has the potential to help as many as 1.76 million young immigrants avoid deportation and obtain work authorization for two years.  To qualify for the program, individuals must be under the age of 31; have arrived in the U.S. before turning 16 and resided in the country for at least five years; be enrolled in or have graduated from high school (or have a GED or be a veteran); and have no felonies or significant misdemeanors, among other requirements.

Undocumented students line up at Navy Pier to apply for deferred action.

Source: John H. White, Chicago Sun-Times

DACA represents a step in the right direction for child and young adult immigrant rights. In the short-term, applicants granted deferred action may be free from deportation, obtain crucial employment authorization and a Social Security number, have an incentive to stay in school, and be able to “come out” from living in the shadows of lacking proper legal documentation.

On the other hand, the significant uncertainty of DACA as a discretionary presidential action, which makes no permanent legal change in a person’s immigration status, means there is a substantial chance it could do more harm than good. The risks are even greater for unaccompanied children. The precarious nature of DACA is arguably not in line with the intentions of Articles II and III of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to prohibit discrimination and promote the best interests of the child. DACA’s weaknesses thus represent an opportunity to illuminate why a more comprehensive immigration reform is needed.

The Forgotten and the Shunned: Street Children in Egypt

by Mai El-Sadany

Twitter: @MaiE_89

 

Courtesy of  www.flickr.com

"You can never do justice in portraying the injustice of life and humans towards these children." Such are the words of Nelly Ali, anthropologist and PhD student who has been working with, conducting research, and actively blogging on the issue of street children in Egypt.  

 

Street children, also known as awlad al-shaware’ in Egyptian Arabic, are generally defined as young boys and girls who live on the streets and have minimal to no contact with their parents or guardians; they depend on the street for their shelter, income, and sustenance.

 

Since the revolution and with the majority of attention focused on Egypt’s political dynamics, there has been almost no attentiveness towards this marginalized community. As Egypt prepares to adapt a new constitution (the status of which will be determined after a second round of voting on December 22) there remains an alarming absence of necessary discussion on issues of human rights, more specifically the rights of the child, the working rights of minors, and various protections for trafficking. As such the issue of awlad al-shaware’ becomes one that must promptly be revisited.

President Obama and The Rights of the Child

ARC 530623, WikiCommons

by S. Amanda Shelton

In the wake of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill which human rights groups criticized for its broad curtailment of basic civil rights, many were left with questions about the contrast between President Obama’s human rights stance as President and his stance as a candidate and Senator. While national security, torture, and indefinite detention have been at the center of this debate, his administration’s policies on child soldiers are also fertile ground for this discussion.

On September 19, 2007, then-Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama co-sponsored  the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007. The act aimed to prevent taxpayer subsidization of the use of child soldiers by withholding U.S. military assistance to states with child soldiers in their militaries or in government-supported armed forces. The use of child soldiers is a practice that draws an estimated 250,000 children into direct armed conflict and indirect conflict support – including sexual exploitation – across the globe.