Restavec: Child Servitude in Haiti
Globally known as the first liberated, African ancestry-led nation in the Western Hemisphere, since the release of French colonial control and claiming its independence in January 1804, Haiti continues to struggle with economic instability, political corruption, illiteracy and ultimate poverty. Questions of proper distribution of wealth and human rights definitely arise when considering that 80 percent of Haiti’s population is overwhelmed by crippling poverty while 1 percent of that same society owns 45 percent of the country’s entire wealth (Sheckleford). Not only do the consequences of this form of inequality result in extreme animosity between both rich and poor, it forces the impoverished to decide their fate by fully depending on survival tactics. With a malnutrition rate of over 56 percent (Sheckleford), these survival methods may even include parents sending their children away to work for “wealthier families” with the promise of a prosperous life which may include improved living accommodations, proper clothing, food and an education. Unfortunately, most children or restavecs, as they are locally and internationally known, usually end up being trafficked as second-class domestic workers or in even extreme cases, sent to areas where commercial sexual exploitation is practiced (United States Department of Labor). Despite the government in Haiti signing a Memorandum of Understanding eliminating Child Labor in December 1999 (United States Department of Labor), abiding correctly to the Labor Code seems doubtful and as a result, the numbers of restavecs continue to increase in an alarmingly fast rate. Considering that there are an estimated 300,000 restavecs in a nation with only a population of 8 million inhabitants (Cohen), child servitude remains to be one of the several unfortunate problems the Haitian community and the world face today.
So what types of measures need to be considered when dealing with this sort of crisis? Since some restavecs are recognized as primary breadwinners within their households, unfortunately, solutions and immediate fixes can not occur overnight. Instead of relying on wishful thinking and happy endings, according to the Global Village’s website on “Exploitation of Children: What Can Be Done About Child Labor?”, they offer excellent suggestions on how child servitude or labor can gradually improve by:
- Addressing the root cause of child servitude by trying to progress towards reducing poverty in general.
- Removing the most dangerous and unequal types of child servitude.
- Offering educational services to children such as evening or alternative schools.
- Advancing working conditions and rights to proper healthcare and leisure.
- Confronting and eliminating any type of gender discrimination (Example being that males may have the higher advantage of education and advancement compared to their female counterparts.).
An unmentioned factor that could also play a key importance in this cause is to extend the knowledge gained onto working children’s parents or relatives. By providing similar advantages to adults, this could eventually lead to beneficial outcomes to all sides and even prevent any future attempts from family members sending restavecs away for domestic work.
Though Haiti has always had the reputation of rebellion and chaos for many decades, it was not until the catastrophic earthquake on the 12 January 2010 that disrupted humanity from its sleep once again. This time around however, the first thought after such a tremendous tragedy left the most natural, humanly impression: to come together as one and to assist those in serious need. Why does it always take such a natural disaster to instantaneously bring the world together? Now that thousands of individuals from various human rights organizations, international news media, medical personnel and the armed forces have occupied the country, have they all witnessed the hints of country’s turmoil and effects of anarchy that was already obvious before the tragedy? Once all the “immediate” help has been accomplished and departed, will the government of Haiti finally put its tainted infamy to the side in order to build a stronger and more stable state? With a slow but sure approach of rebuilding Haiti, by having the government provide its nation with stable employment offering basic entitlements such as appropriate health care, proper housing accommodations, and access to clean water and food, the involvement alone would make a remarkable difference especially at this unfortunate time. Not only could newly employed adults financially support their families as needed and achieve increased levels of progression towards the right of development, those factors would also leave behind the opportunity for their children–former restavecs—to improvingly regain their entitled human rights and finally have their right to an education—as originally promised.
References:
Author Unknown. (2006). Global Village. In Exploitation of Children: What Can Be Done About Child Labor? Retrieved February 7, 2010, http://www.globalvillage2006.org/en/find_out_about/child_exploitation/what_can_be_done.
Author Unknown. Restavec Photograph #1; Retrieved on 30 March 2010: http://repeatingislands.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/resta.jpg
Author Unknown. Restavec Photograph #2; Retrieved on 30 March 2010: http://www.haitihealthcare.org/images/photos350/Portraits_Kids8.jpg
Cohen, Gigi. (March 27, 2004). National Public Radio. In Haiti‘s Dark Secret: Restavecs. Retrieved February 5, 2010, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1779562.
Scheckleford, Michale. (September 15, 2006). Caribbean Net News. In Haiti‘s Dirty Little Secret: The Problem of Child Slavery. Retrieved February 6, 2010, http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000032/003298.html
United States Department of Labor. (2009). Bureau of International Labor Affairs. In Haiti. Retrieved February 6, 2010, http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/Advancing1/html/haiti.htm
© 2010, Naomi McCleod. All rights reserved.
Seems something like this is happening right here in our own backyard:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021002518_pf.html
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing!
It is happening in more places than just Ohio. And it is not just internationals trafficking INTO the United States. The United States Department of Justice estimates 300,000 US CHILDREN are trafficked or at risk for trafficking WITHIN the United States. Do you know what the #1 destination for American men seeking to have sex with a child? The United States.
If someone is trafficked into the US from another country and forced into sexual slavery, they are a victim and have MANY resources available to them. It does not matter if that person is performing voluntarily, the fact that they are under 18 automatically implies no informed consent. If an American child is caught engaging in commercial sex acts, they are treated as criminals. Apparently, American citizens should “know better” and not allow themselves to be mentally, physically, and emotionally abused so that they end up in trafficking situations.
Like the article in the Washington Post mentioned, most law enforcement officers just are not trained to recognize domestic trafficking. Add to that the stigma against females engaged in commercial sex acts and you have a recipe for prosecuting a victim and perpetuating the cycle.
It is easy to spot the “villain” in a situation where a pedophile is exploiting a 5 year old, like in the case of Shaniya Davis here in NC. It gets fuzzy when you start talking about 15, 16, and 17 year old girls. They are not legally able to give consent to be in a mutually consenting relationship with someone over 18, but if they charge for it, now it it their choice and they are criminally liable?
Here are some articles you might find interesting:
In this article, a 13 year old girl was charged with prostitution in Texas, while her 32 year old pimp walks.
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/texas_da_prosecutes_girl_13_for_prostitution_while_her_pimp_32_walks
Here is another article about trafficking in Ohio.
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/the_new_hotbed_of_human_trafficking_is_ohio
p.s. Here is an article about a man being charged with abusing children in Haiti:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35199895/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
Hi Charity,
Thanks for your feedback! I’m just absolutely shocked that the 32-year old “boyfriend” was released while the young 13-year old girl had to face the consequences instead. It makes me wonder how Texas even allowed the “boyfriend” to go free. Not a fair trial whatsoever.
It is also appalling to read about Ohio’s high levels of human traffiking. What exactly can be done about this??
Thank you for the interesting articles and sharing the website.
Naomi