If waking up every morning before the sun rises to begin a day of exhausting work isn’t horrifying enough for a 9-year-old, night time brings even worse terrors: sexual abuse by one of the men in the household. Too many kids fear the dark because of the constant threat of horrifying abuse. Many people believe slavery is just something from the past; that is incorrect. Slavery still exists. As an outcome of the earthquake that struck Haiti, on January 2010, Haiti was inflicted with economic disparity and devastations among its citizens. The earthquake has put Haitians, especially women and children, in a greater risk to human trafficking and slavery (Adwar, Corey). After being orphaned at the age of five, Micheline became a victim of restavek—a
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During that time, owners used vicious methods to control slaves. In 1791, Haitian slaves rose in revolt; Toussaint L’ouverture became the leader of the slave uprising and freed all the slaves by 1801. Haiti was the first country to legally outlaw slavery which means it has been illegal in Haiti longer than anywhere else. The laws that are in effect for children now are not authorized. Although slavery is illegal in Haiti, there are still hundreds of thousands of children constrained into slavery today ("Restavek Child Slavery.") A man by the name of Cadet shared his story as a restavek. "When I was a child, the family basically owned me; I grew up sleeping under the kitchen table. I got up early, swept the yard, washed the car, fetched water, emptied the chamber pot. I went to the market, bathed the children, walked the children to school and I couldn 't come to school," he said. "I never ate with the family. I was abused physically. I was abused emotionally with bad words.” Cadet’s mother died at a young age and gave him away to leave with a more prosperous family (Loney, Jim). There are people all over Haiti experiencing the same type of situations that Cadet …show more content…
Imagine that your generation will be the one that is looked back on in history as the generation that ended slavery. Imagine that your children and your grandchildren will grow up in a world where slavery is just seen as an ugly blot on our history. Imagine a world where every person is born in freedom and lives in liberty” (Bales, Kevin). So what can be done to prevent this horrifying practice from happening? People need to speak up and voices need to be heard. As public awareness increases, so do the chances of these women and children being rescued. Parents would not be as pressured to give their children away to become restaveks if they were provided with aid such as food, clothing, and clean drinking water. Slaves all over outnumber their masters. If people speak up and stand with the slaves, it will become easier to prevent slavery from happening and to rescue the people trapped. To help future children from suffering as restaveks, some people are working to push even stronger legislation to save these children (Dupuy, Anick Supplice). Slavery will end if people speak up, victims are treated respectfully, and those of us who are free choose to sustain all those who are helping others to
During that time, owners used vicious methods to control slaves. In 1791, Haitian slaves rose in revolt; Toussaint L’ouverture became the leader of the slave uprising and freed all the slaves by 1801. Haiti was the first country to legally outlaw slavery which means it has been illegal in Haiti longer than anywhere else. The laws that are in effect for children now are not authorized. Although slavery is illegal in Haiti, there are still hundreds of thousands of children constrained into slavery today ("Restavek Child Slavery.") A man by the name of Cadet shared his story as a restavek. "When I was a child, the family basically owned me; I grew up sleeping under the kitchen table. I got up early, swept the yard, washed the car, fetched water, emptied the chamber pot. I went to the market, bathed the children, walked the children to school and I couldn 't come to school," he said. "I never ate with the family. I was abused physically. I was abused emotionally with bad words.” Cadet’s mother died at a young age and gave him away to leave with a more prosperous family (Loney, Jim). There are people all over Haiti experiencing the same type of situations that Cadet …show more content…
Imagine that your generation will be the one that is looked back on in history as the generation that ended slavery. Imagine that your children and your grandchildren will grow up in a world where slavery is just seen as an ugly blot on our history. Imagine a world where every person is born in freedom and lives in liberty” (Bales, Kevin). So what can be done to prevent this horrifying practice from happening? People need to speak up and voices need to be heard. As public awareness increases, so do the chances of these women and children being rescued. Parents would not be as pressured to give their children away to become restaveks if they were provided with aid such as food, clothing, and clean drinking water. Slaves all over outnumber their masters. If people speak up and stand with the slaves, it will become easier to prevent slavery from happening and to rescue the people trapped. To help future children from suffering as restaveks, some people are working to push even stronger legislation to save these children (Dupuy, Anick Supplice). Slavery will end if people speak up, victims are treated respectfully, and those of us who are free choose to sustain all those who are helping others to