Leah Gilbert1, Avid Reza2, James Mercy3, Veronica Lea4, Juliette Lee5, Likang Xu6, Louis Herns Marcelin7, Marisa Hast8, John Vertefeuille9, Jean Wysler Domercant10. 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F64, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: LGilbert@cdc.gov. 2. School of Humanity and Awareness Inc., 6255 Barfield Road NE. Suite 110, Atlanta, GA 30328, USA. Electronic address: avid@sohaonline.org. 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F64, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: Jam2@cdc.gov. 4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health, Division of Global Health Protection1825 Century Center, MS E98, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: Vcl7@cdc.gov. 5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health, Division of Global Health Protection1825 Century Center, MS E98, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: Jpa7@cdc.gov. 6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Analysis, Research and Practice Integration, USA. Electronic address: Igx7@cdc.gov. 7. Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development (INURED), Haiti 8, Rue Eucalyptus, Delmas 83, Haiti University of Miami Department of Anthropology Merrick 103-G, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA. Electronic address: LMarcel2@med.miami.edu. 8. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, 615 N Wolfe St. Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: Mhast2@jhu.edu. 9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health, Global Immunization Division, 1600 Clifton Road, MS A04 Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. Electronic address: Dki4@cdc.gov. 10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health Division of Global HIV/AIDS Haiti, U.S. Embassy Tabarre, PO Box 1634, Haiti. Electronic address: Viw5@cdc.gov.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There have been estimates that over 150,000 Haitian children are living in servitude. Child domestic servants who perform unpaid labor are referred to as "restavèks." Restavèks are often stigmatized, prohibited from attending school, and isolated from family placing them at higher risk for experiencing violence. In the absence of national data on the experiences of restavèks in Haiti, the study objective was to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of restavèks in Haiti and to assess their experiences of violence in childhood. METHODS: The Violence Against Children Survey was a nationally representative, cross-sectional household survey of 13-24year olds (n=2916) conducted May-June 2012 in Haiti. A stratified three-stage cluster design was used to sample households and camps containing persons displaced by the 2010 earthquake. Respondents were interviewed to assess lifetime prevalence of physical, emotional, and sexual violence occurring before age 18. Chi-squared tests were used to assess the association between having been a restavèk and experiencing violence in childhood. FINDINGS: In this study 17.4% of females and 12.2% of males reported having been restavèks before age 18. Restavèks were more likely to have worked in childhood, have never attended school, and to have come from a household that did not have enough money for food in childhood. Females who had been restavèks in childhood had higher odds of reporting childhood physical (OR 2.04 [1.40-2.97]); emotional (OR 2.41 [1.80-3.23]); and sexual violence (OR 1.86 [95% CI 1.34-2.58]) compared to females who had never been restavèks. Similarly, males who had ever been restavèks in childhood had significantly increased odds of emotional violence (OR 3.06 [1.99-4.70]) and sexual violence (OR 1.85 [1.12-3.07]) compared to males who had never been restavèks, but there was no difference in childhood physical violence. INTERPRETATION: This study demonstrates that child domestic servants in Haiti experience higher rates of childhood violence and have less access to education and financial resources than other Haitian children. These findings highlight the importance of addressing both the lack of human rights law enforcement and the poor economic circumstances that allow the practice of restavèk to continue in Haiti. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
BACKGROUND: There have been estimates that over 150,000 Haitian children are living in servitude. Child domestic servants who perform unpaid labor are referred to as "restavèks." Restavèks are often stigmatized, prohibited from attending school, and isolated from family placing them at higher risk for experiencing violence. In the absence of national data on the experiences of restavèks in Haiti, the study objective was to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of restavèks in Haiti and to assess their experiences of violence in childhood. METHODS: The Violence Against Children Survey was a nationally representative, cross-sectional household survey of 13-24year olds (n=2916) conducted May-June 2012 in Haiti. A stratified three-stage cluster design was used to sample households and camps containing persons displaced by the 2010 earthquake. Respondents were interviewed to assess lifetime prevalence of physical, emotional, and sexual violence occurring before age 18. Chi-squared tests were used to assess the association between having been a restavèk and experiencing violence in childhood. FINDINGS: In this study 17.4% of females and 12.2% of males reported having been restavèks before age 18. Restavèks were more likely to have worked in childhood, have never attended school, and to have come from a household that did not have enough money for food in childhood. Females who had been restavèks in childhood had higher odds of reporting childhood physical (OR 2.04 [1.40-2.97]); emotional (OR 2.41 [1.80-3.23]); and sexual violence (OR 1.86 [95% CI 1.34-2.58]) compared to females who had never been restavèks. Similarly, males who had ever been restavèks in childhood had significantly increased odds of emotional violence (OR 3.06 [1.99-4.70]) and sexual violence (OR 1.85 [1.12-3.07]) compared to males who had never been restavèks, but there was no difference in childhood physical violence. INTERPRETATION: This study demonstrates that child domestic servants in Haiti experience higher rates of childhood violence and have less access to education and financial resources than other Haitian children. These findings highlight the importance of addressing both the lack of human rights law enforcement and the poor economic circumstances that allow the practice of restavèk to continue in Haiti. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Entities:
Keywords:
Child domestic servitude; Haiti; Restavek; Violence against children; Violence against children survey
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