Haiti has been ranked as the second country in the world for prevalence of slavery among a population. The difficult thing about this country's situation is that many mothers are willingly sending their children to wealthier or middle class families in exchange for care of the child's basic needs. It is often agreed that the child will go to school and then this promise is not always carried out.
Many of these children, primarily female, are working 10-14 hours per day without pay. Perhaps even knowing this information, impoverished mothers would still be sending their children to serve in such homes so that at least they will be fed. And this being the case, the slavery problem in this country is complex. After all, domestic servitude with no pay is better than prostitution or begging on the streets, they would reason.
The estimated 200,000 to 230,000 slaves in Haiti are mostly women and children, with many of the children being orphans. Because of the high level of orphans, most trafficking cases consist of children in domestic servitude, but these children are subjected to all kinds of abuses in the places where they serve. Women and children living in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps that were established as a result of the 2010 earthquake, have been at an increased risk of sex trafficking and forced labor.
There are a set of standards that have been set forth in the US to grade each country on its efforts to end trafficking and help the victims. It is called the "Trafficking Victims Protection Act". Standards are given for each country to meet and each country has been graded on their progress or efforts to improve. There are 4 tiers: 1) The country fully complies 2) Not fully, but making significant efforts 3) Watch list: There are a significant number of victims and there is no evidence to improve conditions based on commitments for the next year 4) Do not comply and are not making efforts to do so. Haiti is a tier 2 country.
On a positive note, Haiti enacted legislation recently (in 2014) to criminalize human trafficking. However, the government has not increased efforts to address the problem and so they remain in tier 2. They would have gone down to the level of tier 3 if not for the plan that the government has in place (even if it has not been implemented.) Despite the large number of victims identified each year, the government has not convicted any perpetrators. They have closed several businesses, where children are being trafficked. Prayer is needed that these baby steps will turn into larger steps to end trafficking in Haiti.
Please pray: That the new laws will be enforced and that there will be resources to do so.
For the poverty of this country and that there will be donors to this cause and that money will be used without corruption.
For all who are currently enslaved in Haiti...for their lives and redemption.
sources:
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226735.htm
http://www.businessinsider.com/flawed-arrangement-turns-haitian-restaveks-into-slaves-2014-8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Haiti
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48858041@N05/12835794533">Ile-a-Vache Birdseye View Oceanshore Cove - Haiti</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/57980142@N05/15458151750">FMSC Distribution Partner - Haiti</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://crea
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