JK Rowling tells young people to stop volunteering at orphanages because it 'perpetuates child abuse'

Harry Potter author said children ‘are not tourist attractions’

JK Rowling has urged young people to avoid volunteering at orphanages, claiming they do “irreparable harm” and “perpetuate the abuse” of children and communities.

The Harry Potter author was speaking at London’s One Young World Summit, a global forum for young leaders, where she launched a new campaign spearheaded by her international charity, Lumos.

The charity’s new campaign – named #HelpingNotHelping – highlights how some orphanages exploit children for money from tourists, and the devastating effects of the system.

She said: “Do not volunteer in orphanages. The reason we don’t have orphanages in the developed world is because they cause often irreparable harm. The system renders children vulnerable to abuse and trafficking, and impacts their life prospects.

“I’m not for a second suggesting that orphanages are always set up with bad intentions, but the effect on children is universally poor.”

She said that “the number one reason” for children ending up in an orphanage “is poverty”.

“Many are disabled... and the only hope their parents had for education and healthcare in that community is to put the child in the so-called orphanage.”

Rowling added that travellers who “help out” at these orphanages help fund the abuse of children via the orphanage system.

“The West has often, with the best intentions, funded these orphanages,” she said.

“Often young people come away thinking they did good, and are appalled when the facts are laid in front of them, that they have been perpetuating abuse. Some orphanages are set up literally to abuse children – to get money from the pockets of voluntourism.”

J.K. Rowling: “Please share this campaign. Use your voice to challenge your school, college or university to ensure it has a strong policy that doesn’t support orphanage tourism. Most of all, do your research.” #HelpingNotHelping #OYW2019 https://t.co/ZYKGJxQlDA pic.twitter.com/Rte71EV0yK

— Lumos (@lumos) October 24, 2019

She said that "children are not tourist attractions," adding: “If money and energy was given to charities instead, we could solve this problem within decades.”

Rowling was joined on stage by two One Young World Ambassadors and self-advocates, Ruth Wacuka from Kenya and Eluxon Tassy, from Haiti.

As care leavers, Ruth and Eluxon shared their experiences of growing up in orphanages and called for change in the way vulnerable children are cared for around the world.

Last month, Rowling donated £15.3m to support research into the treatment of multiple sclerosis and similar conditions at the University of Edinburgh’s Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, which is named after her late mother.

Lumos is named after the spell that provides light in the Harry Potter books. The charity’s research found that 80 per cent of the eight million children currently living in orphanages around the world have at least one living parent.

Additional reporting by Agencies