Restavec

A restavek (or restavec) is a child in Haiti who is sent by his or her parents to work for a host household as a domestic servant because the parents lack the resources required to support the child. The term comes from the French language rester avec, "to stay with". Parents unable to care for children may send them to live with wealthier (or less poor) families; often their own relatives or friends. Often the children are from rural areas and relatives who host restaveks live in more urban ones. The expectation is that the children will receive food and housing (and sometimes an education) in exchange for doing housework. However, many restaveks live in poverty, may not receive proper education, and are at grave risk for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The restavek system is tolerated in Haitian culture, but not considered to be preferable. The practice meets formal international definitions of modern day slavery and child trafficking, and affects an estimated 300,000 Haitian children. The number of CDW (Child Domestic Workers) in Haiti, defined as 1) living away from parents' home 2) not following normal progression in education 3) working more than other children, is more than 400,000. 25% of Haitian children age 5-17 live away from their biological parents.

Slavery has existed in Haiti since Columbus first landed on the island in 1492. Haiti proclaimed independence in 1804. France applied several rigid fines and prevented Haiti from accessing international resources, putting a heavy burden on Haiti's economy that detracted from social spending for many years. The restavek tradition dates back centuries. Following the 2010 earthquake, thousands of individuals in Haiti were displaced from their homes and families. According to anecdotal evidence many of these individuals were children who would have nowhere to turn but to fall into the Haitian restavèk population. Along with displacement due to the occurrences of natural disasters, children are also highly recruited into becoming restavèk’s by recruiters looking to find domestic servants for families. Many street children are former domestic servants who were dismissed by the families in which they worked for, or that they ran away from. However, these children have not yet escaped the restavèk life, instead are shifting into a different dimension of it that include their exploitation in begging rings, and prostitution.

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