A restavek is a child who is sent or sold by their parents to work in a host household as a domestic servant, because the parents lack the resources required to support the child. In this situation the child is mistreated, neglected, and often abused emotionally, physically, and sexually.
By working as a child advocate with kids who are in the restavek system, I’ve learned that a child really can’t have a good living situation without love, education, attention, and appreciation, whether he is from the city or from the countryside.
As the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says, these children need to survive. They have the right to eat, to rest, and to escape the pain. They need protection and security. They need to belong, to be accepted, and to be part of a group they can claim as their own. They have a need for recognition. They have a right to achieve their full potential.
In our society, we are used to seeing children who do not go to school and who are mistreated. The restavek child knows no physical security, has no private space, and is subject to various violent or sexual assaults. The child is not an integral part of his or her family’s “home”. Restavek children are often devalued, and they can’t achieve their full potential because they receive no education or vocational training.
For the past three months, I have worked with these children. I see them every week. I tell them that I share their anxieties and fears. I see the importance of the work we do with them. We help them to become more confident in themselves and to have hope. We give them love and attention; we work to give them a better future.
That is why I am proud, so proud, of my work with these kids who are called “restavek”, because I know that I am doing something very important that will serve the next generation.
Natacha Desir, Child Advocate
