Restavèk Project: Introduction

More than 200 million children around the world are hard at work, often at exploitative and hazardous jobs.  Many of the forms of child labor practices are "forced", in the sense that children are taught to accept the conditions of their lives and not to challenge them.  Far beyond the acceptance of poor conditions, children find themselves in effective slavery.

Child domestic work is one of the most widespread and least researched forms of child exploitation.  The domestic worker is one of the world's most forgotten, most vulnerable and most exploited of all children.  The very nature of domestic work means they are trapped in a cycle of dreary tasks amounting often to virtual slavery, shut away from the eyes of the world, unprotected from abuse. Heavy workloads are packed into 12- to 18-hour days.  Severe corporal punishment and harsh emotional, psychological and sexual abuse are part of their daily survival routine.

In Haiti there are more than 300,000 Restavèks, a Creole term for a child from poor family who is handed over to another family to provide "domestic help".  The vast majority of these children are blatantly denied their rights to education, adequate nutrition, rest and recreation. Most importantly, they are isolated and denied their family's love. Driven by extreme poverty and acceptance, this practice has gone on for centuries unchallenged and uncontrolled.

International organizations have debunked many myths of child labor, have called for an immediate end to the horrific practices, and have made significant accomplishments. Strategic policies and practices such as protective shelters, alternative education and literacy centers are emerging.  Governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society must create more innovative partnerships to promote solutions that protect innocent lives.  The world is obliged to recognize and acknowledge these invisible children and to honor and guarantee their rights set forth in the Declaration of Human Rights and The Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Resources – UNICEF-SOTWC 1997 Beyond Borders, The Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee.