Restavek
In Haiti, many poor rural families hoping to provide a better future for their children send them to live as domestic servants in the homes of urban / semi-urban families. These children, mostly girls are extremely vulnerable to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. These children are known as Restavek.
1,617 Children Interviewed to Determine Access to Amenities
1,617 children were chosen and surveyed to determine the overall distribution of access to amenities by haitian children. Of these, 586 children were Restavek.
Haiti Now obtained this research data from FAFO Research Foundation and the Institut Haitian del’ Enfance. The data was collected in 2013 - 2014.
Research Determined and Compared Access to Amenities by Restavek and non-Restavek Children
The research looked at the availability of four amenities in Haitian homes and compares the access to these amenities by child domestic workers (CDW) or Restavek, and non CDW. The research categorized access as “regularly”, “Sometimes”, and “Never”. Four amenities analyzed were telephone, radio, television and Internet.
- For telephones, CDW and non-CDW access rates were roughly similar with only one in five children having regular access.
- For radio, CDW and non-CDW access were also similar with between half and two thirds of all children having some or regular access to radios.
- For television, CDW and non-CDW access were again similar with about 40 percent of all children having some or regular access to television.
- For internet, CDW and non-CDW access were again similar with about 3 - 8 percent of all children having some or regular access to television.
Data Source
Haiti Now obtained this research data from FAFO Research Foundation and the Institut Haitian del’ Enfance. The data was collected in 2013 - 2014.
Haiti Now has published this data online in an interactive manner. Click here to review this data in more detail, and to see other dimensions of the living conditions of Restavek in Haiti.
Another Option for Abandoned Girls in Domestic Servitude
Haiti Now ‘s mission is to give Restavek girls the ability to:
- leave domestic servitude, and
- prepare for the future they and their parents hoped for.
Our current goal is to build a residential school for Restavek girls . We intend to provide the support needed for these girls to build a healthy and financially secure future, all under one roof.
In this residential school, girls will receive:
- an accelerated education,
- health care,
- emotional support,
- mentoring,
- arts and sports, and
- healthy socialization with peers and adults.
- business incubation
We are getting closer to reaching our goal of building this residential school, and we need your help.
Please support us at https://www.haiti-now.org/donate/
