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Orphanage Tourism: The Need for Protection and Policy

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Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 12))

Abstract

Orphanage tourism in Cambodia is an important niche tourism form within the wider tourism trends of voluntourism and poverty tourism. It is increasing rapidly internationally, but in some nations more than others, Cambodia has a particularly popular orphanage tourism destination. Although orphanage tourism is often assumed to be a beneficial phenomenon that gives back to host populations, increasingly the potential child protection issues within the trend have become apparent and focused upon within media and literature. This chapter outlines some of the threats to child protection within Cambodian orphanages encouraged and heightened by orphanage tourism. Orphanage tourism can result in abuse, especially sexual, of children, and issues of corruption and exploitation are prominent. Increasingly, there have been calls for increased protection of children within these spaces, further enforcement of existing policies relating to residential care, and the development of legislation directly relating to tourism within these spaces, spaces that are meant to protect children in need. The chapter, therefore, explores some of the concerns around this issue, highlighting the need for the Cambodian Government to take a lead in sector-wide child protection policies to ensure the protection of vulnerable Cambodian children at orphanages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Tess Guiney

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  1. Tess Guiney
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Correspondence to Tess Guiney .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Claire Freeman

  2. School of Physical, Environmental and Ma, University of New South Wales Canberra, Canberra BC, Australia

    Paul Tranter

  3. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Tracey Skelton

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Guiney, T. (2015). Orphanage Tourism: The Need for Protection and Policy. In: Freeman, C., Tranter, P., Skelton, T. (eds) Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-99-6_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-99-6_26-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-99-6

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