Haitian Children Are More Likely to be Treated by Nurses and Healers

Sick Haitian Children Are More Likely to be Treated by Nurses and Healers Than by Specialists

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.

Research Looked at Whether Children Are Treated?, Who Pays?, and Who Examines the Children?

According to the data, the majority of children in Haiti do not have access to hospital and health services.

Around 83.6 percent of child domestic workers (CDW) had not been to a hospital or seen a health worker in the last 12 months.

The access to health facilities for other children staying with their parents was only slightly better.

About 75 percent of such children also did not visit a hospital during the 12 month.
In both these cases, there is hardly any free treatment available to them.

The cost of the sick child has to be borne by their household members. For children living with their parents, 74.4 percent had their expenses paid by a household member while 65.4 percent of CDWs had a household member paying for their treatment.
Moreover, Child Domestic Workers are less likely than other children to be treated by a specialist. Child Domestic Workers are more likely to be treated by nurses and healers.

Data Source

Haiti Now relied on data obtained from the 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. 

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/