Force, fraud, and coercion : Bridging from knowledge of intercountry adoption to global surrogacy

This report discusses concerns raised by participants of Thematic Area 4 (Force, Fraud and Coercion) of the International Forum on Intercountry Adoption and Global Surrogacy held in August 2014. There has been a significant body of research on intercountry adoption practices over the past 30 years; force, fraud, and coercion have been identified in a small but important component of the literature. However, this knowledge in intercountry adoption has not yet truly bridged into research in global surrogacy with some recent exceptions. Learning from the past of ICA and connecting the evidence is particularly relevant due to the fact that the need for international law focused on global surrogacy and issues of parentage has been considered. The lessons learned from a history of corruption and human rights abuses are important to integrate when formulating future international law and regulations to protect vulnerable peoples in global surrogacy practices. Concepts of exploitation and human trafficking are explored with considerations of how to prevent, protect, and prosecute as emergent focal points of discourse. Effective prosecution of crimes, implications for a convention on global surrogacy, exploitation in global surrogacy arrangements, emotional safeguards for surrogate mothers, limited knowledge about the sense of origin, and experiences of children born through surrogacy are all areas in need of continued research

Social work education in the Arabian Gulf: Challenges and opportunities

© 2017 Taylor & Francis. Religion is an integral part of life in Islamic countries in the Arabian Gulf nations of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and thus it informs social work education, practice, and policies. With the expansion of social work education around the world—both through Western universities opening international campuses and local universities developing social work programs—any Western faculty is part of developing social work education programs outside of their homeland. The development of social work education programs outside the Western world requires intentionality to avoid colonization (or recolonization) by, for example, adoption of inappropriate curricula and textbooks and/or promotion of culturally irrelevant or inappropriate interventions. Additional challenges, ethical considerations, and knowledge are needed to develop culturally relevant undergraduate and graduate social work education programs in the Arab Gulf region. This article focuses on the experience of Western social work educators in the Arab Gulf who are all Western-born and Western-trained social work faculty members who worked extensively in social work education in the Arabian Gulf region. They have developed programs in these nations and taught in both BSW and MSW programs in the Arab Gulf

Integrating Globalization into the Social Work Curriculum

The reality that social work is a global profession is explored. Authors encourage a broadening of social work education, moving beyond the traditional conception of internationalized to a globalized social work curriculum. Practical teaching strategies for a globalized perspective are presented with selected key concepts specifically applied to social policy, community practice, human behavior in the social environment, and sustainable development. Discussion includes macro-scale ethical considerations in a neoliberal economic system

El uso de la fuerza, el fraude y la coerción en algunas adopciones en Guatemala: los casos graves de secuestros que cuestionan el principio del “interés superior de la niñez”

Guatemala tiene una desafortunada y destacada historia de casos de fraude de adopciones internacionales que se remonta a los años de guerra (1960-1996) y que continúa hasta la firma de la Convención de La Haya sobre Adopción Internacional de 1993, ratificada en 2007. Algunas adopciones de niños y niñas procedentes de este país, principalmente realizadas desde Estados Unidos, se han producido irregular y/o ilegalmente, mediante el uso de la fuerza, el fraude o la coerción. En este artículo se consideran estas dinámicas de la trata de personas haciendo énfasis en los presuntos casos de secuestro de niños y niñas en el contexto de la violencia impune contra las mujeres. La participación de defensores/as de derechos humanos y las huelgas de hambre se presentan para ilustrar la determinación de tres madres y sus defensores/as en la búsqueda de justicia por la sustracción de sus hijos/as. En el artículo se discuten el cese de la investigación de estos casos debido a la falta de colaboración del gobierno de Estados Unidos para la aplicación de la ley y a la dinámica de las estructuras ocultas de la delincuencia organizada. Pareciera que el principio del “interés superior del menor” finalmente se utiliza para impedir la lucha contra el secuestro de niños y niñas destinados a la adopción.Guatemala has an unfortunate and notorious history of intercountry adoption fraud, dating back to the war years (1960-1996) and continuing until The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption was ratified in 2007. Some child adoptions from the nation, mainly bound to the USA, have serious irregularities and/or illegal characteristics including force, fraud, and coercion. These human trafficking dynamics are considered with an emphasis on alleged child abduction cases in the context of violence against women and impunity. The involvement of human rights defenders and hunger protests are presented to illustrate the determination of three particular mothers and their advocates seeking justice for child abduction. A failure to move the cases forward due to the USA government’s unwillingness to collaborate on law enforcement is discussed, including dynamics of the hidden structures of organized crime. The best interests of the child principle is applied to child abduction for adoption

Force, Fraud, and Coercion in Some Guatemalan Adoptions: High-profile Abduction Cases Challenge the ‘Best Interests of the Child’

Guatemala tiene una desafortunada y destacada historia de casos de fraude de adopciones internacionales que se remonta a los años de guerra (1960-1996) y que continúa hasta la firma de la Convención de La Haya sobre Adopción Internacional de 1993, ratificada en 2007. Algunas adopciones de niños y niñas procedentes de este país, principalmente realizadas desde Estados Unidos, se han producido irregular y/o ilegalmente, mediante el uso de la fuerza, el fraude o la coerción. En este artículo se consideran estas dinámicas de la trata de personas haciendo énfasis en los presuntos casos de secuestro de niños y niñas en el contexto de la violencia impune contra las mujeres. La participación de defensores/as de derechos humanos y las huelgas de hambre se presentan para ilustrar la determinación de tres madres y sus defensores/as en la búsqueda de justicia por la sustracción de sus hijos/as. En el artículo se discuten el cese de la investigación de estos casos debido a la falta de colaboración del gobierno de Estados Unidos para la aplicación de la ley y a la dinámica de las estructuras ocultas de la delincuencia organizada. Pareciera que el principio del “interés superior del menor” finalmente se utiliza para impedir la lucha contra el secuestro de niños y niñas destinados a la adopción.Guatemala has an unfortunate and notorious history of intercountry adoption fraud, dating back to the war years (1960-1996) and continuing until The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption was ratified in 2007. Some child adoptions from the nation, mainly bound to the USA, have serious irregularities and/or illegal characteristics including force, fraud, and coercion. These human trafficking dynamics are considered with an emphasis on alleged child abduction cases in the context of violence against women and impunity. The involvement of human rights defenders and hunger protests are presented to illustrate the determination of three particular mothers and their advocates seeking justice for child abduction. A failure to move the cases forward due to the USA government’s unwillingness to collaborate on law enforcement is discussed, including dynamics of the hidden structures of organized crime. The best interests of the child principle is applied to child abduction for adoption

Ecological theory origin from natural to social science of vice versa? A brief conceptual history for social work

Abstract: The origin of holistic social work and ecological theory was investigated. Emphasis was placed on Howard W. Odum, founding dean of the University of North Carolina School of Public Welfare, and subsequent scholarship by his sons, collaborators on the first American ecology text. Eugene and Howard Thomas Odum, internationally recognized ecological scholars, identified holism as a uni-versal concept originating in social sciences, crediting their father’s earlier sociolog-ical work, which later bridged to ecosystems ecology. A historical review of the influ-ential sociologists, social workers, and ecologists is presented to build the case for ecological theory transfer across the three disciplines, beginning with sociology. Critique of the current use of the ecological perspective is discussed, specifically social work’s tendency to target social systems and behavior while largely ignoring the natural environment

Intercountry Adoption: Policies, Practices, and Outcomes

Intercountry adoption represents a significant component of international migration; in recent years, up to 45,000 children have crossed borders annually as part of the intercountry adoption boom. Proponents have touted intercountry adoption as a natural intervention for promoting child welfare. However, in cases of fraud and economic incentives, intercountry adoption has been denounced as child trafficking. The debate on intercountry adoption has been framed in terms of three perspectives: proponents who advocate intercountry adoption, abolitionists who argue for its elimination, and pragmatists who look for ways to improve both the conditions in sending countries and the procedures for intercountry transfer of children. Social workers play critical roles in intercountry adoption; they are often involved in family support services or child relinquishment in sending countries, and in evaluating potential adoptive homes, processing applications, and providing support for adoptive families in receiving countries; social workers are involved as brokers and policy makers with regard to the processes, procedures, and regulations that govern intercountry adoption. Their voice is essential in shaping practical and ethical policies of the future. Containing 25 chapters covering the following five areas: policy and regulations; sending country perspectives; outcomes for intercountry adoptees; debate between a proponent and an abolitionist; and pragmatists\u27 guides for improving intercountry adoption practices, this book will be essential reading for social work practitioners and academics involved with intercountry adoption.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/fac_books/1039/thumbnail.jp

In an Era of Reform

Intercountry adoption (ICA) is a relatively common practice. Since its contemporary conception during the Second World War, approximately one million children have been adopted internationally. Controversy surrounding ICA includes ideas about human rights and notions of child rescue in the context of major reform to prevent child sales and abduction under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Social work, as a discipline, is a central player in ICA practices, and at least, one historian asserts that social work academic literature is scant on the topic of problematic practice and reforms. A review of the social work literature was conducted, and four thematic areas emerged in the 87 manuscripts reviewed: (a) social policy; (b) exploitation, social justice, ethics, and human rights; (c) clinical perspectives to include identity, child development, and family transition; and (d) child welfare practices. Results indicate a small but robust body of social work literature, and highlights are presented as well as analysis indicating methodical trends

From Intercountry Adoption to Global Surrogacy: A Human Rights History and New Fertility Frontiers

Intercountry adoption has undergone a radical decline since 2004 when it reached a peak of approximately 45,000 children adopted globally. Its practice had been linked to conflict, poverty, gender inequality, and claims of human trafficking, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (HCIA). This international private law along with the Convention on the Rights of the Child affirm the best interests of the child as paramount in making decisions on behalf of children and families with obligations specifically oriented to safeguards in adoption practices. In 2004, as intercountry adoption peaked and then began a dramatic decline, commercial global surrogacy contracts began to take off in India. Global surrogacy gained in popularity owing, in part, to improved assisted reproductive technology methods, the ease with which people can make global surrogacy arrangements, and same-sex couples seeking the option to have their own genetically-related children. Yet regulation remains an issue, so much so that the Hague Conference on Private International Law has undertaken research and assessed the many dilemmas as an expert group considers drafting a new law, with some similarities to the HCIA and a strong emphasis on parentage. This ground-breaking book presents a detailed history and applies policy and human rights issues with an emphasis on the best interests of the child within intercountry adoption and the new conceptions of protection necessary in global surrogacy. To meet this end, voices of surrogate mothers in the US and India ground discourse as authors consider the human rights concerns and policy implications. For both intercountry adoption and global surrogacy, the complexity of the social context anchors the discourse inclusive of the intersections of poverty and privilege. This examination of the inevitable problems is presented at a time in which the pathways to global surrogacy appear to be shifting as the Supreme Court of India weighs in on the future of the industry there while Thailand, Cambodia and other countries have banned the practice all together. There is speculation that countries in Africa and possibly Central America appear poised to pick up the multi-million dollar industry as the demand for healthy infants continues on.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/fac_books/1038/thumbnail.jp