Ethical Issues in Global Volunteering: Practical Considerations

The overarching principle of ethical volunteering is to ‘do no harm’. Volunteers need to think carefully about how to behave, and what to teach and how to discuss ideas. There have been examples in the media of volunteers in charitable positions behaving inappropriately, including sexual exploitation of vulnerable people, and these cause huge suffering, trauma and humiliation to individuals and organisations. Nowadays organisations have strict safeguarding rules. It is critical to stay professional at all times.