This report, published by the US Embassy in Nepal, includes a segment on human rights issues related to orphanage voluntourism and donors, child abuse in child care homes, and a lack of Government regulation of institutions.
Excerpt from pages 29-30 of the report:
“Institutionalized Children: Abuse and mistreatment in orphanages and children’s homes reportedly was common. An NGO working in this area estimated that approximately 10 percent of registered children’s homes met the minimum legal standards of operation. A 2013 study by CWISH similarly showed that few such homes in the Kathmandu Valley met CCWB standards, although they provided some basic services. NGOs reported that inspections of homes by the CCWB and district-based child welfare boards were infrequent and did not cover the estimated 25 percent of unregistered homes.
An NGO estimated that at least two of three children in registered homes were not orphans, and the figure for unregistered homes was probably comparable. The CCWB stated that many children in institutions were inaccurately presented as orphans or destitute to attract the sympathy of fee-paying foreign volunteers and donors. According to the same NGO, staff sometimes threatened children if they revealed the truth of their parentage, or abused, starved, or otherwise mistreated the children to attract sympathy and financial support. When government agencies took action against abuse, it often followed lobbying by civil society and concerned individuals. In cases where the CCWB participated in rescue raids, some homes reportedly lost their operating licenses and were prohibited from reopening for five years.
In July police arrested Rabin Shrestha, the former head of adoptions of the Nepal Children’s Organization (commonly known as Bal Mandir), and Rabin Chalise, a former student who ran the youth club at the facility, on charges that they repeatedly raped and molested children in the home. The criminal case was pending.”
