Restavek

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.

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.

Many parents send their children to be restaveks expecting them to have a better life. Poor rural parents who cannot provide their children with clean water, food, and education send them away, usually to cities, to find these opportunities as restaveks.

Restaveks are unpaid and have no power or recourse within the family. Unlike slaves in the traditional sense, restaveks are not bought or sold or owned, could run away or return to their families, and are typically released from servitude when they become adults; however, the restavek system is commonly understood to be a form of slavery. Often host families dismiss their restaveks before they turn 15, since by law that is the age they would begin having to be paid; many then live on the street. Increasingly, paid middlemen act as recruiters to place children with host families, and it is becoming more common to place children with strangers. Children often have no way to get back in touch with their families.

Children who are too young to do their chores properly frequently face beatings for the failure.

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