Human Trafficking and Children in Domestic Servitude

The regional space of ObservaLAtrata (OLT), the Dominican chapter, together with its counterpart in Haiti, convened a border meeting in mid-January on human trafficking and children in domestic servitude, within the framework of the project Support to the Regional ObservaLAtrata Network and the national chapter of the Dominican Republic, with technical support from Save the Children and financial backing from the European Union.

Bridget Wooding, at the Juan Pablo Duarte Cultural Center in Comendador, speaking on behalf of OBMICA, which has coordinated the Dominican chapter since 2013, shared with government institutions, civil society organizations, and international agencies the origins of the national chapter and its work. Leronel Mortime reviewed the experience of OLT Haiti as its coordinator since 2015.

Child domestic servitude

This long-standing practice refers to boys and girls between 6 and 12 years old who are placed with host families in order to serve them. They often come from families with very limited economic resources that seek opportunities to improve the childs quality of life. This is how the Haitian chapter of ObservaLAtrata describes it, having followed and accompanied the aftermath of the phenomenon. These restavek, as they are popularly called in Haiti, are exposed to physical and psychological abuse and the deprivation of fundamental rights inflicted by host families. Haitian psychologist Samuel Jean Baptiste estimates that 46% of recorded cases of children in domestic servitude come from rural-to-urban movement driven by the lack of and limited access to basic services in the countryside.

Rising figures

A recent report by Haitis Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST), in collaboration with IBESR and other institutions, states that the number of children in situations of domestic servitude rises to 400,000. On the one hand, the economic situation in Haiti continues swelling the ranks of children outside their homes. At the same time, growing awareness of violations of childrens rights means that better-off families are increasingly reluctant to accept this kind of arrangement for fear of breaking the law. Despite the efforts made by Haitian institutions and civil society spaces working to promote childrens rights and protection, the lack of resources and solid structures makes it difficult to combat this scourge, members of OLT-Haiti point out.

Despite the efforts implemented by Haitian institutions and civil society spaces working in the promotion of childrens rights and protection, the lack of resources and solid structures hinders the implementation of policies to combat this scourge, OLT-Haiti members emphasize.

Judicialization

For a few years now, Haiti has had a law on trafficking in persons that makes it possible to classify children in domestic servitude as cases of human trafficking. However, weaknesses in Haitis judicial system have not favored the prosecution of such cases. OLT Haiti and OLT Dominican Republic agreed to join efforts in initiatives, especially at the border, in order to create synergies in their work on these issues. This is because at the border there is the particular phenomenon of so-called cross-border foster children, in which Haitian children end up in third-party households in the neighboring country without their rights necessarily being respected. A more binational perspective should be promoted in order to address this reality more firmly.