Providing Protection or Enabling Exploitation? Orphanages and Modern Slavery in Post-Disaster Contexts

Abstract

Orphanages are a common child protection response to humanitarian crises spurred on by media and NGO depictions of the disaster orphan. Yet, decades of research attests to the harm that orphanage care can cause. Driven by aid funding, orphanages are often sustained long after the recovery phase. In recent years, research has highlighted the links between orphanages, exploitation and modern slavery, particularly orphanage trafficking. This paper examines how the perpetuation of the disaster narrative sustains orphanage care post-disaster which heightens the risk, and exposure, of children to modern slavery, and makes suggestions for strengthening humanitarian crises responses to protect children.