Lunch and Learn with Anita Dodds: Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation by Voluntourists in South-East Asia

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Lunch and Learn with Anita Dodds: Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation by Voluntourists in South-East Asia

Thursday, 14 November, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CET

Voluntourism across Southeast Asia is on the rise, providing international travellers with direct engagement in local communities. But amidst this growing sector, serious questions arise: Who is protecting the children in these communities? How is the voluntourism sector being regulated? And most importantly, how do we prevent voluntourism from increasing children's vulnerability to exploitation? 

Anita Dodds, a criminologist and child protection specialist with 30 years of experience working with Police, Immigration, and Customs, shared insights into how these risks have evolved since COVID-19. She explained how some offenders take advantage of voluntourism and what is being done - and what more needs to be done - to keep children safe. 

We explored how local authorities are working to protect children, where the gaps are in voluntourism regulations, and what practical steps we can all take to support child-safe tourism. 

This session was held by Anita Dodds, a close partner of ECPAT and a member of the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.

Speaker:

Anita Dodds
Child Protection Advisor

Anita Dodds is a criminologist and child protection specialist with 30 years’ experience working alongside Police, Immigration and Customs officials to address transnational crime, with a particular focus on child sexual exploitation.

Moderation:

Katharina Stechl
Program Manager

Katharina is a passionate expert in the field of business and human rights. Her studies in tourism management and a working background in development cooperation and communication help her to combine different perspectives to make the topic tangible and accessible for various stakeholders. 
As Programme Manager for the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism, she conceptualises projects and leads their implementation. This includes the webinar series "Tourism and Human Rights", which she moderates.
The Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism is an international multi-stakeholder initiative that builds a trusted network of tourism stakeholders. The Roundtable provides access to expertise, initiates pilot projects and develops learning materials to support the implementation of human rights due diligence in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles within tourism companies, the supply chain and destinations

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