Why Children Stay in Restavek Situations

By Frantso
Sagesse, Child Advocate

I
am very glad to be a Child Advocate.
Even before I had finished high school, I had already begun working with
children.  Although my work didn’t
involve children in restavek, I would always notice these children who were
mistreated, dirty, skinny, fetching water all day long, working long hours in
the garden, attempting to do chores that were too difficult for them, spoken to
harshly by their mother, host family, cousin, uncle, godmother, father…they
didn’t seem to have anyone to stand up for them. Sometimes I would try to
intervene, but unsuccessfully, because I didn’t have a deep understanding of
the restavek situation or what to do about it.
I would wonder, “How did these children come to live in restavek?  Why do they continue living in restavek?  How can they get out of restavek?”

Seven
years ago, I began to understand more about the restavek situation, and how the
children are denied love, food, school, attention, and friends, and are
emotionally and verbally abused.  As I
learned, I continued to ask myself, “If they are treated this way, why do they
keep living in restavek?  Why don’t they
just go home to their families?”  I realized
that children who come to live in restavek are promised life will be better at
their new home – they will get to go to school, sleep very well, and have
beautiful dresses, pants and shoes.
Other children might come to live in restavek because their parents have
too many children to take care of, or they are orphaned.  But when they arrive at their new house,
their situation turns out to be horrendous.
So why do they stay?

There are
many reasons children stay in restavek situations. I will
share with you five primary reasons I have come to understand:

First, the
children don’t have anyone looking out for them or advocating for them while
they are living in restavek.

Second, often the
children don’t know anything about their biological family – where they live or
if they are even still alive, because they have been in restavek for a long
time.

Third, they are promised
one day their life will be good, and even though it’s not true, they continue
living in this situation, hoping things will get better.

Fourth, the
children are treated like cars; anybody can drive them, and they don’t have the
power to say yes or no.  

Fifth, the
children are told they can’t do anything; they come to accept this and don’t
try to leave.

When
I realized all of this, I decided, “That’s enough.  I was, am, and will continue to advocate for
all children, especially children who are in restavek situations.”  I know
one day more will join us at Restavek Freedom to declare freedom for children
who are living in restavek.

To
learn how you can join Frantso and our other Child Advocates in standing up for
children in restavek situations, visit https://restavekfreedom.org/childsponsorship today!