The Cognitive Dissonance between Child Rescue and Child Protection

‘Saving orphans’ has become an industry that irrevocably harms children and undermines the development of child welfare systems. We must replace the drive to rescue with the desire to protect

Social Work in a Post-Dobbs World: The ‘Adoption Fallacy’, Decolonization, and Reproductive Justice

This article takes as its departure a critique of the ‘adoption fallacy’ underlying the US Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to argue that the Dobbs decision incentivizes a reconsideration of social work practice as a site for advancing reproductive justice. To do this, however, social work must strive to decolonize the profession by critically reflecting on its role in reproductive policy and politics, particularly its complicity in abortion and adoption decisions that may have limited—and continue to limit—reproductive justice. Only then can social work effectively counter the adoption fallacy and advocate more broadly for reproductive justice

Embedding social justice in Ugandan adoption and legal guardianship cases

International adoptions of Ugandan children rose by 400 percent from 2010 to 2011, many under irregular and suspicious circumstances (Lumu 2014) due to a ‘legal guardianship loophole’ that allows prospective adoptive parents to take children under their guardianship out of the country even before a child’s adoptability has been determined. Ugandan courts then lose jurisdiction because such adoptions are finalized in the adoptive country. This article highlights the emerging social justice issues associated with these trends, as well as the irreversible damage of such actions on children’s growth and development. The courts play a critical role in adoption and legal guardianship cases, using their discretionary power to promote the best interests of children and ensure their safety, survival and development. Because judicial officers are more empowered than any other authority, we argue that they must exercise this discretion with social justice in mind; a fair and transparent process of judicial decision-making that recognizes human value, children’s capabilities, and wellbeing as well as treats all parties equally – regardless of their social status – is essential if children are to be protected from adoption abuses and traf

Feeling ‘Blue’: Pornography and Sex Education in Eastern Africa*

This study examined young people’s exposure to sexually explicit media (SEM) in Ethiopia and Uganda, where comprehensive sexuality education is often lacking or even non-existent. Through mixed-method, youth-centred participatory research, young people affirmed the ubiquity of pornography – even in communities with little access to the internet. Male and female study participants aged 12–26 said they turned to pornography because they lacked adequate sex education – much of which was designed and run by adults who did not understand their diverse needs. By contrast, they felt pornography delivered the information they needed in an exciting manner. At the same time, young people recognised that pornography use could sometimes have too much influence over their developing sexual identities and practices. Youth in both countries called for more and better comprehensive sexuality education for the whole community, allowing for more open dialogue about sexuality – issues that they acknowledged can be compounded by their consumption and production of pornography

Discordant Expectations of Global Intimacy: Desire and Inequality in Commercial Surrogacy

Gestational surrogacy – carrying someone else’s baby (or babies) to term and giving birth to them – is perhaps one of the most intimate acts a human being can perform for others. However, the proliferation of commercial surrogacy has drawn concern and criticism, with many scholars arguing that it both creates and exacerbates global social and economic inequalities. Commercial surrogacy thus raises both the possibility of global intimate connection and the specter of reproductive exploitation. I therefore explore the various, shifting, and often discordant desires for intimate connection between the intending parent(s), the surrogate mother, and the resulting child(ren) in commercial surrogacy. I then examine how those intimacies intersect with commercial surrogacy’s socioeconomic inequalities. Weighing commercial surrogacy’s driving desire