Haiti Child Domestic Workers: Tabular Data and Summary of the 2001 Study

Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Media and the rights-based discourse on ‘restavek’ 4 A summary of Fafo’s 2001-study 6 Scholarly literature on fosterage, family and poverty mitigation 7 Child agency 9 Delineations drawn by the Technical Committee of the current study 9 Preface 14 Executive summary 14 Living and working conditions, and experiences of separateness 15 Profiles of original homes and employment households – and paths in-between 15 Introduction 16 International discourses on child labour, child domestic labour and slavery 18 Media and the rights-based discourse on ‘restavek’ 19 A summary of Fafo’s 2001-study 22 Scholarly literature on fosterage, family and poverty mitigation 23 Child agency 25 Beyond a dichotomy of victimhood and agency 26 2 Objective and methodology 27 Defining concepts according to international legislation 28 Delineations drawn by the Technical Committee of the current study 33 Approach 36 Methodology, fieldworks and sources of data 38 The survey: Questionnaires and sample 38 Qualitative fieldwork 41 Institutional study 42 Ethical considerations 46 Chapter outline 47 3.Numbers and distributions of child domestic workers in Haiti 47 Different definitions produce different numbers 48 Relative workload, educational performance and parent-child separation 51 Estimations based on workload, education and separateness from parents 52 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Four hundred thousand: The maximum estimate based on workload and education 53 Stricter definitions of age result in lower numbers 55 Age, gender and geography 58 Conclusion 59 4.Contexts of children’s work and education in contemporary Haiti 60 Children and living arrangements 61 Regional differences in living arrangements 62 Living arrangement and household characteristics 62 Living arrangements from 2001 to 2014 63 Education 63 Enrolment 64 Completion of primary school 64 School delay 65 Workload 66 Work quintiles 66 Concluding remarks 67 Living and working conditions, and experiences of separateness 67 Gender and area: Recent changes among relocated children and child domestic workers 68 Left behind or travelled? Child domestic work and the nature of connections to new homes 70 Education 72 School enrolment, attendance and access to school material 72 Education and identity 74 Enterprising, education-seeking children 76 Working conditions 77 Health 80 Social conditions 82 Privileges and restrictions: Media access, clothing and freedom to leave the house 82 Experiences of care: Punishment, commensality and social inclusion 83 The bad end: Being set aside 84 A continuum of domestic work arrangements, and children’s movements along it 86 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Conclusions 88 6 Profiles of original homes and employment households – and paths in-between 88 Sending and receiving households: Some general characteristics 90 Child relocation and domestic work: A matter of attitudes? 92 Inequality, economic adaptations and the death of a parent 94 Marjorie placements of children and longer-term planning of household economy 95 Desperation: Parents acceptance, encouragements, and children’s own initiatives 96 Original parents’ expectations, motivations, acceptance 99 A note on differential treatment of children in receiving/employing households 100 Child movements 101 Processes of recruitment and placement, and the issue of middlemen 102 Conclusions 104 7 Responses: Institutions, organisations and methods 105 The national legal framework 106 Actors 110 State actors The policy of the Haitian government 110 The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) 111 The Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) 113 The Haiti National Police (HNP) 121 The judicial system 122 The Office for Protection of Citizens (OPC) 125 Local authorities 125 International actors 127 Bilateral and multilateral international cooperation 131 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) 132 International NGOs 133 The Approaches of Actors to Child Domestic Work 144 Awareness-Raising and Promotion of Children’s Rights 144 Implementing Community Structures for Child Protection 150 Bracket 2: The approach of Beyond Borders 151 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Mitigation: Education, Material Assistance and Social Integration. 152 Introduction PAG SOURCE E Media and the rights-based discourse on ‘restavek’ Estimates in 2011 put Haiti’s population at over 9.7 million. 3 9.7 million-CIA World Haiti is the western hemisphere’s poorest and least-developed Factbook, Haiti, country. It ranks 145th out of 169 countries on the 2010 United https://www.cia.gov/libr Nations (UN) Human Development Index. ary/publications/the-wo rld-factbook/geos/ha.ht ml 145th rank -UN Human Development Index, http://hdr.undp.org/en/s tatistics/ Haiti’s economy suffered severe setback when a 7.1 magnitude 3 Supra note 1. earthquake damaged its capital city, Port-au-Prince, in January Ibid. 2010. The damage to Port-au-Prince caused the country’s GDP to contract by an estimated 8 percent in 2010. It further devastated the country’s already inadequate social 3 Luzincourt, K. and services, exacerbated political and social-economic instability, and Gulbrandon, J., (2010). weakened the already poor educational system. Education and Conflict in Haiti: Rebuilding the Education Sector after 2010 Earthquake. United States Institute of Peace, Washington. http://www.usip.org/pub lications/education-and -conflict-in-haiti Haiti’s economic conditions put children in a precarious situation. It 3 Smucker, Glenn R., is customary for a Haitian child, usually around age 6, to begin and Murry, Gerald F. serving adults and contributing to the family’s livelihood (2004). The Uses of Children: A Study of Trafficking in Haitian Children. Port-au- Prince, USAID. The U.S. Department of State’s 2012 Trafficking in Person Report 3 U.S. State Department. states that Haitian children are frequently found crossing the (2012). Trafficking in Haitian-Dominican border illegally, often in the company of an adult Person Report 2012. who is paid to pretend to be the children’s parents. http://www.state.gov/do cuments/organization/1 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 92595.pdf While some of these Haitian children are reunited with their real 3 Department. (2012). parents who are working in Dominican Republic, others are forced Trafficking in Person into organized begging rings, domestic servitude, or sex trafficking. Report 2012. http://www.state.gov/do cuments/organization/1 92595.pdf Children in Haiti also work on farms, where they may be exposed to 3 Macro International Inc. pesticides, sharp tools, harsh conditions, and long hours. In 2007, (2008). Child Labor in ICF International (known as Macro International Inc. at the time of Haiti’s Agricultural the research) conducted a household survey in one of Haiti’s Sector—A Study of department about the agricultural sector. The survey found that Children in the Rural children constituted one-fourth of the farm workers sampled. They Center Department. contributed to the cultivation of pistachios, corns, peas, millet, sugarcane, manioc, and rice. Anecdotal evidences suggest that the 2010 earthquake, which 4 U.S. Embassy, resulted in thousands of displaced individuals, likely increased the Port-au-Prince, number of both restavèks and street children. reporting, March 1, 2010. Cited from USDOL 2009 Findings on Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/progr ams/ocft/pdf/2009OCF Treport.pdf Children on the streets perform activities such as washing car 4 Ibid windows, vending, or begging. They are exposed to a variety of hazards, such as severe weather conditions, car accidents, and vulnerability to gangs and prostitution. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), child 4 International Labour domestic labor refers to situations where children are engaged to Office. (2004). Helping perform domestic tasks in the home of an exploitative third party or Hands of Shackled employer. When such exploitation is extreme and includes Lives: Understanding trafficking, slavery or practices similar to slavery, or work that—by its Child Domestic Labour nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out—is hazardous and Responses to it. and likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children, then it ILO: Geneva. constitutes a worst form of child labor. http://www.unicef.org/vi olencestudy/pdf/2004_ domestic_Helpinghand s_en.pdf Children in Haiti are exploited in the worst forms of child labor, most 4 Ibid. commonly in domestic service Often described simply as the ‘restavèk’ system, the phenomenon is 4 Smucker and Murray. far more complex The Uses of than this single term suggests. Smucker and Murray define Childhood, USAID, Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data restavèks as unpaid child servants living and working away from Haiti, 2004, p. 21 home, but note that the restavèks’ fieldwork revealed significant variation in the arrangements and treatment conditions of the children who live or work away from their biological parents. Restavèks are mostly found in middle-to-lower-middle class 4 households; they are also prevalent in the poorest slums of Restavèk Port-au-Prince. Freedom. (2011). Restavèk: The Persistence of Child Labor and Slavery, http://ijdh.org/w ordpress/wp- content/upload s/2011/03/Haiti -UPR-Restavek -Report-FINAL. pdf Kinship plays a large factor in the recruitment of restavèks. 4 Francois, Smucker, Tardieu. Lost Childhoods In Haiti: Quantifying Child Trafficking, Restavèks and Victims of Violence, PADF/USAID, Haiti, 2009 A summary of Fafo’s 2001-study According to a 2009 study by Francois, Smucker, and Tardieu, only 5 UN HRC: Report of the 22 percent of restavèks had no kinship ties to the head of Special Rapporteur on household where they resided. For the remaining 78 percent, family contemporary forms of obligations and ties, to close and distant relatives, were evident as slavery, including its children were transferred from lower-income to higher-income causes and families. These obligations occurred even among households that consequences, were just a little poorer than the sending households. For the poorer Addendum, Mission to families, this represents an opportunity for their children to have a Haiti, 2009 proper education and health care in urban areas, which they cannot receive in the rural areas where they currently live. The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, 5 Ibid Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Gulnara Shahinian, argued in her 2009 report that the direct placements of children from one family to another has been taken over by the existence of recruiters. These recruiters, for their own financial gain, recruit children from rural areas to work either with urban families as restavèks or outside the home in markets. In many cases, the recruiters are paid by the host family to find a restavèk. Since the rural families are sending their children with a recruiter to be placed with a family of strangers, many stakeholders label this phenomenon as trafficking. While living with strangers, the restavèks often lose complete contact with their biological families. Another difference is that due to demographic changes, wealthy families have paid workers to carry out the domestic chores. The domestic workers themselves now have restavèks in their own homes to take care of their home and children. A third change noted in Francois, Smucker, and Tardieu’s 2009 5 Supranote 3 study is the intra- urban movement of children within the metropolitan area of Port-au Prince for restavèk placement. In their research, they found that communes within Port-au Prince 5 Ibid were the second most important suppliers of restavèks for Port-au-Prince. For example, for Cité Soleil, neighboring communes supplied the same percentage of restavèks as the communes from the Sud department. This is a change from the earlier practice of rural families sending their children to be restavèks in urban households. Some children escape from their new home; they then either live in 5 IOM: Video News the streets or are picked up by authorities who refer them to the Release on Child Institut du bien-être social et de recherches—Haitian Social Welfare Trafficking and Abuse Institute (IBESR). The children stay at centers, such as the Centre in Haiti, available at d’action pour le développement—Center for Action and http://www.iom.int/jahia Development (CAD) and Foyer L’Escale in Port-au-Prince, until they /Jahia/media/press- are reunited with their biological families. briefing-notes/pbnAM/c ache/offonce/lang/en?e ntryId=16514, 2008 The U.S. Department of State 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report 5 Supra note 9. also mentions the role of recruiters in arranging for restavèks to live with families in other cities and towns with the hopes of going to school. The report details the types of abuse these children suffer, such as physical, sexual, and psychological. When they become too difficult to control, they are dismissed and thrown out on the streets. These dismissed children, the restavèks displaced by 2010 earthquake as well as those who run away, make up a significant amount of the population of street children. The latter children might be subjected to street crime or sex trafficking by criminal gangs. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Scholarly literature on fosterage, family and pove mitigation Little reliable information is yet available about the effect of the 2010 6 Smucker, G. quoted in earthquake on the restavèk situation. There are, however, sufficient Paul, K.: Labor indications to suggest that there have been changes, some of them Shortage, available at short-term, others possibly longer term. One example might be the http://www.newsweek.c increased vulnerability of children separated from their families or om, February 01 2010 caregivers, often surviving alone in the crowded and often violent tent cities. Another could be the patterns of post-earthquake population displacement and its effect on the movements of restavèks. For the families struggling in the wake of a natural catastrophe, restavèks tend to be the first to go. They are the ones most at risk to be turned out onto the streets or trafficked. According to Haiti’s Labor Code, the minimum age for work in 6 Republic of Haiti, Code industrial, agricultural, or commercial enterprises is 15. du travail, article 335 The minimum age for apprenticeships is 14. 6 U.S. Department of State. (2012). Human Rights Report. op. cit Children ages 15 to 18 must obtain work authorization from the 6 Republic of Haiti, Code Ministry of Labor to be employed. du travail, article 337 and 340. Children are also prohibited from night work in industrial jobs, and 6 Republic of Haiti, Code from work that is likely to harm their health, safety, or morals. du travail, article 333 and 334. USDOL reported in its 2010 Findings on Worst Forms of Child Labor 6 USDOL. (2011). 2010 Report that no evidence indicated that the Government of Haiti has Findings on Worst established a coordinating mechanism to combat the worst forms of Forms of Child Labor. child labor. While the Ministry of Social Affairs is tasked with http://www.dol.gov/ilab/ enforcing child labor laws, it is hindered by understaffing and a lack programs/ocft/PDF/201 of equipment. The Brigade for the Protection of Minors within the 0TDA.pdf Haitian National Police is tasked with investigating crimes against children. This agency has 35 officers and maintains a system to refer 6 U.S. Department of exploited children State. (2012). Human to protective services and has the authority to apprehend Rights Report. op. c perpetrators, but its mandate is limited because of the lack of legal penalties for child labor offenses ILO Convention 29—Forced Labor Convention 6 http://webfusion.ilo.org/ public/applis/appl-byCtr y.cfm?lang=EN&CTYC HOICE=0280&hdroff=1 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ILO Convention 105—Abolition of Forced Labor Convention 6 Ibid. ILO Convention 138—Minimum Age Convention 6 Ibid ILO Convention 182—Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention 6 Ibid UN 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 7 http://www.unodc.org/u Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing The nodc/en/treaties/CTOC United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime /countrylist-traffickingpr (Palermo Protocol) otocol.html UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 7 http://treaties.un.org/Pa ges/ViewDetails.aspx?s rc=TREATY&mtdsg_no =IV-11&chapter=4&lan g=en Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and 7 39 Child Pornography. http://treaties.un.org/Pa ges/ViewDetails.aspx?s rc=TREATY&mtdsg_no =IV-11-c&chapter=4&la ng=en Child agency As a qualitative study, this research was intended to shed light on 8 Rowlands, B.H. (2005). the situation of restavèks, particularly on the roles of the receiving Grounded in practice: and sending families, through an inductive research process, in Using interpretive which “the researcher tries not to be constrained by prior theory and research to build instead sees the development of relevant theory, propositions, and theory. The Electronic concepts as a purpose of the project.” Journal of Business Research Methodology, 3(1). p. 86 Delineations drawn by the Technical Committee of th current study Haiti’s educational system is considered one of the weakest in the 16 See world. http://www.fafo.no/pub/ rapp/10070/10070.pdf Even before the earthquake in January 2010, Haiti’s educational 16 See system was characterized by significant exclusion and structural http://www.haitispeciale deficiencies. Education costs were high in proportion to family nvoy.org/about-haiti/ed revenues (approximately 40 percent of revenues for low-income ucation Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data families) and access to school was difficult, especially in rural areas. Public schools only covered 20 percent of the total demand for basic education. In addition, parents had to pay school fees to enroll their children in the public school system. Twenty-two percent of children ages 6 to 11 (an estimated 400,000) were still out of the educational system. Approximately 30 percent of those initially enrolled in primary school 16 UNICEF. See: would not continue on to the third grade, and 60 percent of all http://www.unicef.org/h students would drop out of school before the sixth grade. ar08/files/har08_Haiti_ countrychapter.pdf Much has happened since January 2010, both in terms of physical 17 See reconstruction and in terms of access to schooling, particularly as a http://www.unicef.org/in consequence of President Martelly’s new initiative for free fobycountry/files/2year education, launched in October 2011, targeting some 260,000 sReport.pdf out-of-school children The formal and informal experts tended to suggest that participation 18 The Problem of in education by these children was at a lower level than suggested Over-Age Students in by the children themselves. In the experts’ view, which broadly the Haitian Education aligns with available statistics, only a minority of children—probably System: An Overview, no more than 20 percent—actually attended school, and most of Ministry of Education, these children attended low-quality institutions. Some were late Youth and Sports, starters and found themselves in classes with other children who Directorate of Planning were significantly younger than they were. Hence, there might be a and External discrepancy between the actual age of the working children and the Cooperation. Available class in which they should have been enrolled. at: http://unesdoc.unesco. org/images/0013/00136 4/136433e.pdf tap-tap 25 Tap-tap” is a Haitian term to refer to public transport, usually buses or pick-up trucks. One particular type of intermediary is known as “Madam Sara,” 27 See “Subsidizing predominantly rural women who purchase produce in rural areas Self-Destruction: and then transport the goods directly to larger markets or Madam Sara vs. Port-au-Prince. They operate either in their native rural area or in an Komèsan”, accessed at area they are familiar with and where they have relatives. http://open.salon.com/c They are, therefore, very well informed and connected. These over.php, on February “Madam Sara” may connect sending and receiving families, and 19, 2012 help with the transport of the child. There are traffickers, “Madam Sara” who are involved in the identification of children for placement in domestic service … I know they receive earnings. (Formal Expert) The “Dames Sara” and other brokers often serve as the channel that brings children to the receiving families. (Formal Expert) All of the receiving families analyzed had previous connections with 27 the sending families of the children working for them. In many cases, Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data there was a direct family link, as one receiving family noted: “I know her mother. She’s my sister.” In addition, in most of the remaining receiving families, there were connections from places where both had lived, as one receiving family remarked: “I knew their parents from when we all lived in Saint-Louis-du-Sud.” Contact, especially with members of the same family, appeared to quite common: We always had good relations and her mother visits us. (Receiving Family) We have close contact, since they are my brother’s daughters. (Receiving Family) Public transportation of one kind or another was the usual means of 28 transportation, as one sending family reported: “I went with her on the bus when we left Delmas for Carrefour.” A receiving family also acknowledges: “They came almost half the distance on foot, and then took the bus.” In some cases, the arrangement was made within one particular locality, where it was usual to walk; one sending family reported: “The people she was going to also lived in Anse-du-Claire, so I took her there on foot.” As far as occasional visits to their family of origin, half of the children 28 who responded to the question reported having visited their parents since they had been with their receiving family. Among those who had never gone to visit their relatives, some of the reasons were the lack of money to travel, the unwillingness of the adults in their receiving family to take them, or the fact that they had no other home. When asked how long they thought their restavèks would stay with 29 them, some receiving families said simply that the children could leave when they were ready and that it was their decision; one receiving family said: “She can decide when she’s ready to set up her own household.” They don’t sleep; they don’t eat when they are hungry; they don’t 30 have time to study;[and] they are beaten, downcast, touched inappropriately or physically abused by the young sons of the head of household. (Informal Expert) They do everything that needs to be done in the house—go to the market, fetch water, help with preparing food, do the laundry and ironing, take the family’s children to school and collect them later. Their living conditions are inhumane. They are the first to get up and the last to go to bed. They eat scraps of food that others have left. They work not only in the houses where they live, but also do work for friends of the family. (Informal Expert) They are malnourished [and] poorly clothed, have no access to education, [and are] the victims of all kinds of poor treatment. (Formal Expert) The restavèks interviewed reported mostly doing typical household 30 chores, such as cleaning the home, cooking meals, fetching water, and doing laundry. Parents imagined, sometimes without any concrete evidence that their children would be involved in a wide range of domestic chores, including fetching water, cleaning the house, buying things at the market, washing dishes, laundry, and Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data other domestic chores; as one sending family said: “I don’t know because I’ve never asked him.” Receiving families repeatedly listed a range of household chores when asked what kinds of work domestic child workers did, and there was little variation between families. One family said: “She cleans the house and goes to fetch water when it’s needed.” Another receiving family stated 31 “She’s learning to do a number of things—prepare food, wash clothes, get rid of jumble and dirty water, clean the house.” Whereas there was some suggestion that boys tended to do the physically more demanding work, tasks seemed to be spread quite evenly between boys and girls. The girl washes the dishes, and sweeps. I don’t want her to fetch water—my own children are bigger and can help me with the water. The boy sweeps sometimes. This morning I sent him to Cité Militaire to do some shopping and made sure he came straight back. (Receiving Family) Take out any urine, sweep, wash dishes and the pans, clean the shower, take care of my children, help me prepare food, do the laundry, and keep an eye on the children. (Receiving Family) She helps my mother when she’s frying food, does work around the house and washes plates. (Receiving Family) A restavèk’s day starts early. Most were up and about between 4 31 a.m. and 6 a.m. and very few were still in bed at 8 a.m. Although they were not necessarily the first to rise—many said that they were woken up by a member of the receiving family—they were certainly among the first to be doing work. Sleeping arrangements varied depending on the status of the 32 household. Some children had a room of their own, but sharing with other children was most common. Most seemed to have had some kind of bed, although some slept on the floor. There was a recognition that the phenomenon was deeply rooted in 34 Haitian culture and, as such, acceptable—one formal expert noted: “Most people think it’s a normal activity. Culturally, they do not consider it to be an abuse.” Nevertheless, a repeated view reported by the formal experts was that, with children working in domestic service, there was an expectation of poor treatment. In its extreme form, such children were not seen as humans and children deserving of treatment appropriate to their age and situation. A formal expert explained: “It’s modern slavery” commented one forma expert; another formal expert said: “Most children are ill-treated and verbally abused.” The word “restavèk” itself carried negative connotations, even though historically it had been seen as a support system within families to provide opportunities to less fortunate members. Now they were sometimes reduced to a commodity to be put to use; one formal expert said: “there are people who ask others if they can borrow their restavèks.” On balance, the sending families were not convinced that their 36 children’s lives had improved. As one sending family observed, “There’s no difference. There she eats but gets ill-treated, or here she’s well thought of but eats badly.” In some ways, things may Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data have improved, as another sending family noted: “They go to school, have a roof over their heads and something to eat.” But in other ways the dangers and risks were all too apparent, as one family remarked: “They’re beaten and not well thought of.” In fact, when asked outright whether there any positive aspects to working as a domestic, almost all sending and receiving families replied firmly that there were not. With the possible exception of being able to go to school, the responses were overwhelmingly negative; one sending family observed: “There’s nothing good in any of it since they are regarded negatively and badly treated. All the things that the head of the house doesn’t want her own children to do are left to ours.” Not surprisingly, all of this impacted the parents’ fears for their children’s future. Several members of the sending families had done similar work themselves when they were younger and had no doubts about the possible consequences. As one sending family observed: “I’m worried when I see my daughter going through all the things I went through.” They would do their very best to prevent any other of their children going down the same route, as noted by another sending family: “No. I tell myself that, whatever the situation here, I will not send my youngest child away because I know what it’s all about.” Some sending families reported that they would certainly do what they could to prevent their children’s children from having the same experience: “I don’t want them to have that experience. I want them to go to school and then learn a trade to give them a future.” Foyer d’amour, 37 Fondation Maurice Sixto, Foyer L’Escale, Coordination des organisations Bolosse-Martissant, Ligue des Frères Boursiquot pour les enfants, Fondasyon Limyè Lavi, FOHDEDO, , and Fondation Zanmi TIMKATEC. Timoun International Organization for Migration (IOM) sensitization campaigns with parents/tutors, 37 campaigns to raise awareness of child rights in schools and churches, rescue and rehabilitation of restavèks, monitoring orphanages, vocational training for adolescents, and lobbying for legal reform. Table Sectorielle 38 IBESR (Haitian Ministry of Social Affairs) On paper, yes, efforts are certainly being made, but there is nothing 38 happening concretely. In general, if problems are identified, no action is taken to solve them. engage children in schools and former restavèks in the fight against 38 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data this phenomenon. Some organizations are interested in the persistence of these 38 problems.… I wished good grassroots organizations who know the children and work with them were taken into consideration. (Formal Expert) The sending families’ poverty or inability to look after their children 40 was identified as the main push factor. These difficulties were often the result of household shocks, including the death of a parent, unemployment due to injury or disability, relationship issues, the consequences of the 2010 earthquake, or any combination thereof. These shocks were particularly devastating because of pre-existing poverty and the large number of children within many of these families. The sending families’ expectation of a better life for their children, including access to education, was the main pull factor for sending their children to the receiving families. There is a broad consensus among the different sources that 41 participated in this study that any solution to the restavèk problem must go beyond law enforcement and the implementation of programs aimed specifically at this sector. Since the root causes of the problem are of broader demographic and economic nature, the solution must tackle the pervasive poverty and demographic problems that foster the practice. Further research should attempt to identify best practices and evaluate the impact of interventions aimed at eliminating the restavèk problem. Additionally, future research attempting to quantify the population and distribution of domestic child workers in worst forms conditions, as well as the socio-demographic risk factors that may contribute to predict these conditions, would be valuable in addressing the issue. x Preface Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 x by UNICEF, ILO, IOM, ●The research was commissioned in 2013. IRC and the Terre des ●It was carried out with the support of 28 Haitian organisations Hommes Lausanne Foundation, in that have served in a reference group for the research project, cooperation with the providing feedback, advice, and assistance throughout the Haitian state. research period. xi Executive summary This report is an analysis of the overall findings from the xi Following the research project on Haitian child domestic workers. The announcement of Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data research was initiated by UNICEF, the Haitian Ministère des research, the original Affaires Sociales et du Travail (MAST), the Institut du Bien-Etre members of the Social et de Recherches (IBESR), ILO, IOM, the IRC and the Technical committee – the International Terre des Hommes Lausanne Foundation. Additional Labour Organization organisations joined during the course of research, and (ILO), the United eventually a group of 28 different organisations supported the Nations Children’s research and made up a Technical Committee. Fund (UNICEF), the International The Technical Committee is composed of 28 organisations , w ith MAST and IBESR in leading Organization for roles. Organisations that joined w ere Aba Sistem Restavek-Haiti, Ambassade de France, Migration (IOM), the AVSI, Care International, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Church World Services (CWS), Enpak, Foyer Maurice Sixto (FMS), Free the Slaves, The French Government, Handicap International Rescue International, Institut Haitien de l’Enfance (IHE), Kinder not Hilfe, Office of the High Committee (IRC ) and Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner Terre des Hommes, for Refugees (UNHCR), Plan International, Réseau National de Défense des Driots Humain (RNDDH), Restavek Freedom Foundation, Save the Children, UN Women, The United Nations IBESR and MAST – Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and World Vision. were joined by several other organisations. Findings in this report are based on statistical data from a xii nation-wide household survey carried out in September 2014. The report also draws on insights from a qualitative fieldwork carried out in Haiti in September 2014, and an institutional study that included fieldwork in Haiti from May to September 2014. In addition, we have reviewed recent academic literature and policy-related works on child domestic workers in Haiti. Insights from this desk study appear in comparative perspective throughout the chapters, as statistical data from the survey and material from the qualitative fieldwork and the institutional study are analysed in relation to existing literature in the field. Needless to say, the institutional analysis also relies on document reviews. Living and working conditions, and experiences separateness According to the latter definition based on relative workload, xiii education and parent-child separation (which was also used in the analysis of the survey data from 2001, cf. Sommerfelt, ed., 2002), both the absolute number and the percentage of child domestic workers in Haiti have increased during the last fifteen years. This is true regardless of age limits and whether we base estimates on the upper two or upper three quintiles of work. The highest estimate of 407 000 child domestic workers, obtained by including those over 15 years of age, is probably too high, because of the difficulty in applying standards for schooling and Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data work for that group. Thus, a more reasonable figure is the 286 000 we find when we restrict the age to five to fourteen years. Profiles of original homes and employment households and paths in-between Boys more often than girls move shorter distance to or within the xiv rural areas. This reflects the difference in tasks undertaken by boys and girls: girls move to urban areas to take up domestic work in houses there whereas boys (also) take part in agricultural labour in rural areas. If children’s own reports of the use of middlemen better reflect xiv the use of middlemen than the statements among the receiving households (household heads) that pay for the services of middlemen (kouyte), it means that the use of a third party that receives payment for placing children in a work relationship is not uncommon (10 percent). For the most part, however, parents, children and receiving (employing) households arrange children’s movements through informal networks and without compensation. This should be kept in mind when discussing child domestic work in terms of conscious processes of “recruitment”. By the same token, distinctions drawn between different categories of children (child domestic workers, child labourers in domestic work, etc), for instance on the basis of workload, age and education, are constructive for building up an understanding of child domestic work, but must not be understood categorically: These are not different children, but different situations that many children slip in and out of during their life course. 1 Introduction This report is an analysis of the overall findings from the 1 Following the research project on Haitian child domestic workers. The announcement of research was initiated by UNICEF, the Haitian Ministère des research, the original members of the Affaires Sociales et du Travail (MAST), the Institut du Bien-Etre Technical committee – Social et de Recherches (IBESR), ILO, IOM, the IRC and the the International Terre des Hommes Lausanne Foundation. Additional Labour Organization organisations joined during the course of research, and (ILO), the United eventually a group of 28 different organisations supported the Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data research and made up a Technical Committee. International Organization for The Technical Committee is composed of 28 organisations, w ith MAST and IBESR in leading Migration (IOM), the roles. Organisations that joined w ere International Rescue Aba Sistem Restavek-Haiti, Committee (IRC ) and Ambassade de France, Terre des Hommes, AVSI, Care International, IBESR and MAST – Catholic Relief Services (CRS), were joined by several Church World Services (CWS), other organisations. Enpak, Foyer Maurice Sixto (FMS), Free the Slaves, The French Government, Handicap International, Institut Haitien de l’Enfance (IHE), Kinder not Hilfe, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Plan International, Réseau National de Défense des Driots Humain (RNDDH), Restavek Freedom Foundation, Save the Children, UN Women, The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and World Vision. The Technical Committee has acted as a reference group for the 1 chaired by MAST and study. IBESR The research follows up insights from a study that Fafo 1 In the web and in conducted in Haiti in 2001. The 2001- study resulted in a report published literature, entitled “Les fondements de la pratique de la domesticité des this report is variously enfants en Haïti” (Sommerfelt, ed. 2002 referred to as «Fafo 2002», «Ministère des Affaires Sociales et du Travail 2002» and «Sommerfelt 2002». We use the latter version of the reference. The report can be found on http://www.fafoarkiv.no /ais/other/haiti/childlab our/EEDH_Report_fin al_french.pdf (in French) and http://www.fafoarkiv.no /ais/other/haiti/childlab our/EEDH_Report_dr aft_english.pdf (English). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Among the funders’ stated interests at the time of announcement 1 cf. BIT et al 2013,and of this research, were information that could enable a better Annex 5. understanding of child domestic work in Haiti within a broader framework of children’s mobility and vernacular practices of child care. The fact that most arrangements in Haiti are unpaid contributes 2 to blurring any distinction between socialisation and work. the initial call for research and concentrated on children’s 2 domestic work as it takes place in settings of relocation, i.e. in households different from children’s original homes. We shaped research tools and data collection procedures accordingly, in order to enable broader comparisons of children’s workloads and schooling in Haiti, and in order to portray children’s experiences in different household settings. International discourses on child labour, child domes labour and slavery The 1990s saw a renewed interest in child labour. In reports and 2 Black 1997; UNICEF rights-based work, the scope widened. Attention was no longer 1999 limited to children’s work in industry and manufacture, and was increasingly directed towards children’s work in the household sphere, in households different from their own, standardized under the label “child domestic labour” •child domestic work was often equated with “child servitude” 2 cf. Blagbrough & and “child slavery” Glynn 1999 • The ILO Convention on “the worst forms of child labour” from 2 ILO C182, article 3 1999 includes “all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour” Arbitrary references to this convention in many reports 2 The first legal tools automatically classify child domestic work as slavery. In this regulating child labour usage, the distinction between children’s work in the domestic were developed in sphere and child slavery remains unclear, but tends to be related order to protect to the degree of restraint that children experience, and the children from degree of exploitation they are subjected to. For instance, exploitation in the whereas children’s work in industrial settings is negatively industrial sector. The evaluated because it makes part of a commercial wage labour commercial element Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data relationship, children’s work in domestic settings is typically inferred by considered similar to slavery precisely because it is not paid. remuneration is one of the underlying assumptions that distinguish “child labour” from “work”, “socialisation” or “duty” in much social science literature. See Nieuwenhuys (1994, 1996) and Zelizer (1994) for discussions of moralities of childhood. Odd equations of children’s domestic work with servitude or 3 slavery are particularly striking in the case of Haiti. In this introductory chapter we address overall tendencies in the international discourses on child domestic work, as these play out with respect to Haiti, as well as main issues in the scholarly literature. Media and the rights-based discourse on ‘restavek Media and the rights-based discourse on ‘restavek’ 3 Only a few days after January 12th2010, news stories reported that children orphaned by the earthquake were targeted by human trafficking. In one article published by the TIME magazine, the journalists 3 Padgett & Gosh 2010 quote American-Haitian emergency worker, Mia Pean, saying that “I really fear … that most of the kids you see being picked up on the streets in Haiti right now are going to become restaveks or victims of sexual trafficking” The early stories on trafficking were never verified 3 cf. Schwartz 2014 but they continued to circulate in the media and many NGO 3 webpages referred to an increase in “child trafficking” and connected it with the earthquake, earthquake orphans and Haiti’s history of child work and labour. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The equation of child labour in domestic work with slavery was 3 see Schwartz 2011: common before the 2010 earthquake too 230ff In rights-based reports and in media-coverage on children’s life 3 cf. ILO 2002, ILO situations in Haiti, there has been a broad tendency to link 2004; UNICEF, 1999 children’s domestic work in households other than their own, with slavery, without qualifications. Haitian children have become a symbol of exploitation of children in general, and no international report of child domestic work can avoid mention of Haiti. Haitian restavek created headlines in media around the world 3 see e.g. Anderson et following a seminar organised in Port-au-Prince in 1984 and al., 1990: iv; UNICEF especially following the publication of Cadet’s book entitled 1993: 34. Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American The spelling of (1998) “restavec” with a ‘c’ is French, whereas “restavek” is Haitian Creole and is more commonly used in English texts. We use Creole spelling of Haitian terms in this article. In 2000, Cincinnati Post wrote that “Hundreds of thousands of 3 see also Schwartz children are living in slavery in Haiti”. In the following years, 2011: 230-233 Haitian “child slaves” appeared in headlines and articles in TIME Magazine, CNN, BBC, and elsewhere A consequence of this surge of public attention to the issue both 3 Haitians reluctance to nationally and internationally is that the restavek notion has using the term is become increasingly negatively charged, also in Haitian usage. evident in the very low Connotations to exploitation, abuse and slavery trickle down and self-reporting on contribute to increased stigmatization.(Moncrieffe 2006). restaveks in Consequently, many Haitians have become reluctant to using the households in the term . HLCS and HYS. In the HLCS from 2001, only 179 children in the age group 5 to 18, or 1.4 percent, were recorded as “restaveks”. In the HYS from 2009, only 10 “restaveks” were reported in the same Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data age group, i.e. 0.3 percent. It also seems that inferring a restavek narrative occasionally is 4 cf. Schwartz done opportunistically in order to attract money and attention to 2011 different aid projects The equation of child labour in domestic work with slavery 4 United Nations 2009 intensified following a fact-finding visit in 2009 by the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery that conducted interviews with aid organisations and community leaders The report concluded, “The Special Rapporteur considers the 4 restavèk system a contemporary form of slavery” Notwithstanding the varied usages in Haiti over the term restavek 4 – and its multifaceted meanings in Creole – distorted images arise when journal articles refer to “restavek” as slavery and follow up by presenting estimates of how widespread “this practice” is – reciting, however, estimates of the extent of child domestic work or child labour in domestic work. The sub-text thus conveys that all children who can be seen as child domestic workers in a legal perspective live under conditions of slavery. This is evident, for instance, in an article on CNN in 2010, where 4 the number 300,000 is supplied, in combination with a reference to the UN labelling of restavek as slavery (Cohen 2010), thus indicating that 10 percent of the child population lives in slavery. A similar process – associating from child domestic work to 4 Cohen 2010 is an slavery – appears in newspaper articles that report on individual example, another is stories of children who live in horrible conditions BBC article by Thomson 2009 Inflated numbers of “child slavery” tallies poorly with the 4 experiences of most children we have encountered that live as “child domestic workers”, quite simply because a high workload and delays in schooling is commonplace for children regardless of whether they live with their parents or not. Many of the children that “qualify” as child domestic workers attend school – which they did not while living with parents. Moreover, inflated numbers of “child slavery” seems like an exercise in misplaced blame to the majority of Haitian that live in poverty and lack educational opportunities. When the international discourse on restavek obscures the 4 Smucker and Murray differences in arrangements and rearrangements of child 2004; Pierre et al. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data rearing, caring, labour and exploitation, it is partly due to lacking 2009; Sommerfelt contextualisation of children’s workloads in more general terms. ed., 2002 Also, with a few noteworthy examples. publications on children’s domestic work and child domestic 4 see further discussion workers based on field research in Haitian households are few, in Chapter 3 in this and estimates on the number of child domestic workers are report seldom grounded in empirical research. The production of biased reports about Haiti and Haitians seems 5 Lawless, 1992; to be a continuous process Farmer, 2006: 188ff. extrapolations of “slavery” to all child relocation practices appear 5 Hoffman, 2012a, as new contributions to this process. Several scholarly writers 2012b; Schwartz, have criticized the international discourse on restavek on these 2011 grounds A summary of Fafo’s 2001-study. 5 In 2001, the Fafo-study combined statistical data from the extensive Haiti Living conditions Survey, and qualitative data produced by a separate anthropological fieldwork We found that child domestic workers made up 8.2 percent of 5 the child population aged five to 17 years. The population estimates that were available at the time numbered the child population in this age group to approximately 2.1 million. This gave a figure of 173,000 child domestic workers in 2001. According to counts since then, the 2004 census in particular, the population estimate in 2001 was significantly underestimated. With a child population of 2.9 million in 2001, which is a more probable estimate, child domestic workers would have counted 239,000 in 2001, rather than 173,000. Not regarding urban-rural status, our data showed that overall, 59 5 percent of the child domestic workers were girls, whereas 41 percent were boys. In absolute numbers, most of the child domestic workers were found in rural areas. When we considered the proportion of child domestic workers of the total child population in urban and rural areas, however, the percentages of child domestic workers were about the same. 5 A summary of Fafo’s 2001-study Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The 2001-study also identified a tendency that more of the boy 5 child domestic workers originated from rural areas, whereas girls to a larger extent than boys came from urban areas. We also found that urban girls made up a large proportion of the child domestic workers, and among these girls, fewer had kinship relationships to their new guardians. Based on both qualitative and quantitative findings in 2001, we 5 parents’ low incomes. emphasised that Haitian children’s recruitment into child domestic work in households different from their original homes arise from needs related to poverty. The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, the flooding 6 and droughts following hurricanes Isaac and Sandy in 2012, and late and poor rainfall in 2013 to 2014 has made life increasingly difficult for many parents and children. These dramatic events, and especially the earthquake, has reinvigorated international media attention to child “servitude” in Haiti, as rumours about urbanites taking orphaned children into domestic servitude has abounded, and made international headlines. Scholarly literature on fosterage, family and pove mitigation Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Literally meaning “a person who lives with someone else”, the 6 We retain a general social science vocabulary when Creole term restavek conveys that a child’s co-residence is using the concept of transferred to new caretakers. In this sense, the term illustrates «household task». This may that work arrangements and “fostering” may overlap. In Haiti, differ from usage in however, the term restavek carries other connotations than to international legislative fosterage. A restavek first and foremost denotes a “child frameworks, and from ILO usage, the latter which domestic servant” or “maid”. The “restavek” child performs seems to use «household household tasks like carrying water, washing, cleaning, and also tasks” to describe domestic services for other household members, petty trading, running activities performed by errands, etc. children in their own homes and by children in foster situations, while “domestic work” is used to describe domestic activities performed by children in an employment situation. Categorical distinctions between fosterage situations and employment are highly problematic in the Haitian cultural context. For comparative reasons also, and in to investigate which children do what and in which living arrangements, we use the concept of «domestic tasks » with reference to all categories of children. Different Creole terms also blur arrangements of child relocation 6 domestik, restavek, tiomoun, pitit kay and child work and labour, and especially concepts denoting “servant”-like positions. arrangements of “paid board” (a pensyon) for the purpose of 6 see Sommerfelt, ed. children’s education.Paid board” is sought when there is no 2002 school nearby, children thus being placed in homes in order to attend school, their upkeep compensated for by cash and kind transfers from parents. A range of intermediary arrangements – between “paid board” and servant positions – exist, in which parents or kin agree with new caretakers about the terms for a child’s stay, parents paying for the child’s schooling, for instance, but the child compensating for upkeep partly by contributing with work. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Early scholarly literature that addressed issues of children’s 7 domestic work input and phenomena referred to in Creole as “restavek” has described them as forms of fosterage, and emphasised that delegation of tasks of child raising (“parental roles”) to other adults than a child’s parents is, or was, widespread. For instance, Mackenzie (1971 [1830]: 273), Herskovits (1964 [1937]: 103-104) and Simpson (1941: 648 ff.; 1942: 666-667) have described Haitian arrangements in this regard. A high level of child relocation is a longstanding feature of Haitian 7 as expressed in sociality and should not come as a surprise Pierre et al. 2009: 9 In both 2001 and 2009, we found that around one in five Haitian 7 Pedersen & Hatløy children are not living with any of their parents 2002: 38; Lunde 2009: 45) frequencies of parent-child separations are higher in the 2014 7 Edmond et al. 2007) data. As we outline in Chapter 4, the current data shows that one in four children live in households without a parent present. In Haiti, child mobility is an integral part of child rearing. Social networks, including extended kin, are crucial channels for social risk management, and mitigation of poverty and hardship for Haitian parents. Raising children in rural areas of Haiti have typically been a shared responsibility of the lakou, a cluster of households that include a multi- generational family and relatives. Mothers have received support in the care and supervision of their children within the lakou, while children have benefitted from multiple caregivers. Fluidity in child raising practices is partly related to obligations of 7 kinship and ways that new ties of kinship can be forged. Haitian kinship is constituted through consanguineal ties (blood kin), and through marriage and various social contracts and guardianships. The naming of godparents creates morally obligating kinship ties 7 Schwartz 2011 between families and is also a strategic decision that works as a social safety net for vulnerable families As early as in 1830, Mackenzie described godparenthood as a 7 1971 [1830]: 273 means used by Haitian landowners to “procure labourers” in agricultural fields Edmond et al. (2007) argue that the traditional lakou system has 8 changed. Land fragmentation and increased poverty has intensified the pressure on Haitian mothers – transforming the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data model of “multiple” mothering in the lakou to a pattern of single mothers becoming the sole caretakers (2007: 20ff) The tendency among many wealthier urbanites in Haiti to argue 8 see Chapter 6 that the presence of restavek and child domestic workers in urban areas can be blamed on failing family planning policies – does not harmonize well with the view of children as a resource among many poorer families. Many parents know that they cannot care for their children for periods of time – but they seek assistance from others and hope their children will be successful elsewhere, and take in the children of others in later phases, when the most resource demanding phase is past Connected with the significance of extensive networks of kin and 8 see Chapter 4 the moral obligation of relatives, and opposed to the common stereotype in sensationalist newspaper articles about children in Haiti, most of the relocated children reside with kin and only few with unrelated strangers. In some reports, relocated children who are not (previously) 8 (Smucker and Murray related to persons in their current home are described as more 2004: 23; Pierre et al. vulnerable than other children. 2009: 10). Child agency Education has a strong position in Haitian society. Despite 8 (Kovats-Bernat 2006, structural disincentives for enrolment and success within the see also Lunde 2008) Haitian education system (Lunde 2008), parents go a long way to ensure their children an education. In addition to providing opportunities for employment, the socialising effect of education on children is also regarded as important. It is striking that children who regularly sleep in the streets define themselves as timoun lari (children of the street) in contrast to timoun lekol (children in school), rather than in contrast to timoun lakay (children in homes). Educational aspirations are a motive behind children’s voluntary 9 migration in many developing countries (cf. Boyden 2013), and in Haiti, this is tied to notions of learning the ways of urban life (cf. Sommerfelt et al., 2002a: 66ff.). Hoffman (2011) points out that many children who are recognised in Haiti as “restavek” see this as an opportunity to “become someone” (2012a: 160). Schwartz’ recent accounts of how Haitian children Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data “want out”, and often prefer an urban life to co-habitation with a rural parent (2014). Moreover, Hoffman asserts that: This theme of child agency has been echoed in an extensive 9 ethnographic literature on street children and child laborers around the world that illustrates the large gaps between the subjective realities of child laborers and representations of them that emphasize their victimization at the hands of adults (2012a: 160 Attention to children’s own initiatives in migration and relocation is 9 important and remains a gap in the literature on Haiti. At the same time, a danger of the attention to child “agency” in the current context is that it may privilege the voices of the children whose “manoeuvring” the streets and homes is the most striking, and does not bring to the fore the “bad end” of the spectrum of child relocation arrangements in which the nature of relationships produce experiences of isolation. It also fails to address the slow response by Haitian politicians to address children’s fates in “the bad end” of the continuum of living conditions. Beyond a dichotomy of victimhood and agency As reflected in the discussion above, a cleavage has been 9 as outlined above, produced in representations of Haitian child domestic work, see e.g. Pierre et al. between a rights-based media discourse, on the one hand, and 2009) an academic discourse on the other. In the first, where different practices tend to be homogenized under a stigmatizing label of slavery, descriptions centre on curtailments of children’s freedoms In the second, scholars draw attention to the logic of child 1 rearrangement solutions that grow out of rural poverty, high fertility (Sommerfelt,ed.,2002; Schwartz 2011)parenting stress and weakening of the caretaking structures in the larger lakou residential units (Edmond et al. 2007). the underlying notion of “agency” is understood in the same 1 manner across the divide, and it characterises discourses on children’s domestic work, child labour and mobility beyond Haiti. This notion of agency is perceived in terms of the opportunity to make independent choices, i.e., degree of “free will”. As agency is presumed as residing in the individual child’s range of choices, it is defined as a matter of quantity: a person may or may not Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data have agency (cf. Ahearn 2001: 114), or agency is described in terms of its erosion from “thick” to “thin” (Klocker 2007: 85). Aiming to move beyond a narrow conception of “agency”, and 1 the concomitant distinction between children’s agency and victimisation (cf. Honwana 2005: 47ff.; Leifsen 2013), we approach child domestic work by putting agency in relational perspective. Agency” in this Haitian setting, rather than constituted by the 1 degree of freedom to act independently, is the relational dynamics of the multiple social attachments that define children’s living conditions. By the same token, local perceptions of agency and action are defined by the nature of social connectedness, and caretaking, loyalty, collaboration and/or resistance to domination in each of these relationships. 1 2 Objective and methodology Tone Sommerfelt, Helen Spraos, Anne Hatløy and Henriette 1 Lunde The main objective of the research component of the Haiti Child Domestic Worker Project is to establish a better understanding of phenomena involving children’s domestic work in Haiti, as well mapping the existing institutional responses. The terms of reference for the current research are attached in 1 Annex 5. The research seeks to answer the following overarching questions: a) How many child domestic workers are there currently in Haiti? How can their demographic distribution be described? b) What are their working and living conditions? c) Which factors make children more or less vulnerable to recruitment into domestic work and related arrangements? Which factors make children and child domestic workers more or less vulnerable to exploitation and abuse? d) What are the characteristics of the children’s original households and the households where they live and work? What are Haitian household heads’ perceptions about child relocation and children’s domestic work? e) What is currently being done to prevent children from entering into domestic work and to protect children already living as domestic workers? What should be done at present? Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data In addition to broadening the scope of research compared to the 1 2001-study, the current research thus also includes an institutional study (cf. point e above). The aims of the latter component include: ● identifying and mapping the organisations and institutions working in the field of protection of child domestic workers in Haiti. These include, for instance, services of the State, NGOs, social partners and community organisations ●analysing the methods used by these organisations/institutions; determine the types of services offered and reference mechanisms proposed. Methods, services and mechanisms used are for instance immediate care/removal of children from their current location, family reunification, reinsertion, and prevention ●assessing the financial and human resources available for the protection of child domestic workers. The aim of this comprehensive look is thus to identify and 1 address overarching patterns, diversity, strengths and weaknesses of intervention strategies. Defining concepts according to international legislation Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave 1 (United Nations 1956, Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956), Art. 1, paragraph d). ratified in 1957, which covers Any institution or practice whereby a child or young person under the age of 18 years, is delivered by either or both of his natural parents or by his guardian to another person, whether for reward or not, with a view to the exploitation of the child or young person or of his labour The Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations 1989), 1 ratified by Haiti in 1994, which requires States to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child (Article 19). Article 32 recognises "the right of the child to be protected from 1 economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development” (UN 1989). ILO Convention 138 (International Labour Organization 1973): 1 ●which sets the minimum age for work at 15 years, ratified by Haiti in 2009. ●the Convention opens for a minimum age of 14 for developing countries (cf. Article 2), and Haiti ratified the convention with this specification, thus setting the minimum age to 14. ● ILO C138 permits children (as from the age of 12 or 13, depending on the general minimum age declared) to perform “light work” (Article 7) but requires national authorities to determine the kinds of activities that should be permitted and prescribe the number of hours and the conditions under which such light work can be undertaken. ILO Convention 182 (International Labour Organization 1999): 1 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, ratified by Haiti in 2007, which, among other, prohibits all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, forced or compulsory labour, and work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. A list of hazardous work developed in accordance with this 1 agreement will be an integral part of the new Child Protection Code which is waiting to be approved by the Haitian Parliament. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 1 (Palermo Protocol, Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations 2000) United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime ratified by Haiti in 2009. The Palermo Protocol, article 3a, states that: 1 (UN 2000, Article 3a). Trafficking in persons’ shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs ( Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data In article 3c, it further states that: «The recruitment, 1 transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered ‘trafficking in persons’ even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article». in article 3d: «‘Child’ shall mean any person under eighteen years 1 of age» United Nations (2000). The International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural 1 (United Nations Rights ratified by Haiti by decree in 2012. 1966), ● Article 10 states that “The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family. ● Article 10.1: while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children " ●Article 10.3 :Special measures of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all children and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law. This treaty from 1966 also states that “The States Parties to the 1 present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”Article 11.1 primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all; 1 secondary education … including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all” (Article 13.2). Haiti has not yet ratified the ILO Convention 189 on Domestic 1 (ILO Workers 2011). As noted above, with reference to ILO C138, “light work” for 1 (Article 7) children aged 12 to 14 is also allowed, as long as it does not impact negatively on the child’s health, development and education The age normally allowed by Convention 138 for light work is 13 1 Article 2 to 15 years. However, given that Haiti took advantage of the provision that allows 14 as a minimum age for work. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data upon ratification, the stipulated age for light work is affected 1 Article accordingly 7.4 Thus, from the age of 14, children are allowed to work in a 1 Cf. article 3 of ILO household or elsewhere unless conditions fall under those Convention 182 and defined as worst forms of child labour (slavery alike situations Article 333 of the and work that by its nature of the conditions in which it is carried Haitian Labour Code, out is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children). the latter which is available at http://www.crijhaiti.co m/fr/?page=loi_interdi ction. The ILO's Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on 1 Edmonds 2008: 19 Child Labour (SIMPOC) has attempted to develop criteria for measuring “light work”. Edmonds reviews the different criteria, and refers to 14 hours of work per week in order to define child labour globally for children below the age of 14. Thus, more than 14 hours of work per week is considered “child 1 labour” for this age group and less than 14 hours per week considered “light work.” For a child under the age of 12, however, one hour or more of similar economic activity is considered child labour. However, “child labour” in this context is understood as “market 1 2008: 8, emphasis in work” (and less preferably as “non-economic work”) that does original not automatically include domestic work. With reference to unpaid domestic work, Edmonds writes that “non-economic work is sometimes used to denote participation in the provision of goods and services to family members or other members of the community that fall outside of the scope of the official definition of economic goods and services” Domestic work, he continues, “includes domestic chores such 1 2008: 8 as caring for family members, cooking, cleaning, or shopping” and “is used in reference to non- economic work exclusive of community service and volunteer work”. Edmonds emphasises that the term “non-economic” with 1 Edmonds 2008: 9 respect to domestic work is unfortunate, considering the importance of these activities. With respect to children performing domestic work outside of their own households, he concludes that “child domestic servants working outside of their family will be grouped with market work and domestic work will Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data be used to reference non-economic work exclusive of community service and volunteer work” In a report on children’s work in the agricultural sector in Haiti’s 1 Howell 2012: 9n54 Department du Sud, Howell points out the process underway to include domestic work in child labour (2012). He refers in particular to UNICEF’s use of 28 hours of domestic work as defining child labour In accordance with ILO C182 (and on an ILO mandate), and in 1 order to operationalize the ban of forms of labour to be considered “worst forms” in Haiti, a list of work prohibited for children was developed by a Tripartite Committee that brought together representatives of the Government, unions and employers. The list was approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) and incorporated into the text of the new Child Protection Code. We discuss the instruments for children’s protection in Haitian 1 The law is also law in further detail in Chapter 7. At this point, we want to make a available at : brief note on regulations that has implications for our delineations http://www.crijhaiti.co of child domestic labour for purposes of estimating extent. The m/fr/?page=loi_interdi Haitian Labour Code of 1961, amended in 1984, defines and ction prohibits forced labour in general (art. 4) and sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years for industrial, agricultural and commercial work and 14 for entry into apprenticeships (see e.g. ILO n.d. Until it was repealed by a law of June 3rd 2003, Chapter 9 of the 1 cf. University of Labour Code defined the legal conditions for the employment of Toronto 2008: 17, children in domestic work. The minimum age at the time was 12 further discussed in years. In 2003, however, this article on minimum age was Chapter 7 revoked, but was not replaced by a new minimum age Today, facing this void concerning minimum age for domestic 1 work in national legislation, it is the ILO Convention 138 which provides the legal standard. The ambiguity of the minimum age-limits of 14 and 15 thus not 1 only derive from details of Haiti’s ratification of ILO C138, but also from the fact that child domestic work is not currently regulated by the National Labour Code A factor which further contributes to this ambiguity is that ILO 1 C138 establishes that the minimum age for admission to employment should not be inferior to the age at which Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data compulsory education stops. In Haiti, primary schooling starts when children are six years old, lasts for nine school years, and thus ends after children’s 14th year of life. Delineations drawn by the Technical Committee of th current study UNICEF and ILO, in collaboration with the other organisations in 1 Figure 1 Framework the Technical Committee of the current study, have prepared the UNICEF/ILO 2014 following diagram in order to portray different legal distinctions. They can be read as ways to further operationalize terms along 1 cf. Edmonds 2008, the lines of ILO's Statistical Information and Monitoring Program see also ILO 2013: on Child Labour (SIMPOC). 20 Definitions of concepts regarding child domestic work according 1 http://www.ilo.org/wcm to ILO-framework. sp5/groups/public/---e d_protect/---protrav/--- Domestic work- Work performed in or for a household or travail/documents/publ households. It refers to work such as cook, waiter, chauffeur, ication/wcms_159558 housekeeper, child care home, gardener, washer person, .pdf guardian, etc. The tasks and services vary from country to http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ country and may be different depending on age, gender, areas/Childdomesticla ethnicity and immigration status of the workers concerned, and bour/lang--fr/index.htm according to the cultural and economic context in which the work is performed. Domestic worker-Means any person engaged in domestic work 1 OIT C.189 et R.201 within an employment relationship. Domestic workers are concernant le travail employed by private households for which they provide services décent pour les travailleuses et travailleurs domestiques. Child domestic work Refers to the situation where children, that 1 http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ is to say, people under 18 years of age, perform domestic work areas/Childdomesticla performed in the home of a third party or employer, with or bour/lang--fr/index.htm without pay. In some situations the term employer may include the extended family, particularly when this family treats the child as if he/she was an employee (domestic worker). This general concept encapsulates both permissible as well as non-permissible situations Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Child labour in domestic work :Means domestic work 1 performed by children: - below the relevant minimum age applicable in Haiti for the non-hazardous forms domestic work: 15 years; for the hazardous forms of domestic work: more than 6 hours per day between 15 and 16 years of age or more than 8 hours per day between 16 and 18 years of age; or - in a slavery-like situation (all persons below 18 years of age). Child in a worst form of child labour : 1 OIT C.182, R 201 It is an aggravated form of child labour, in domestic work, includes the following: - all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or - compulsory recruitment of children for use [as domestic workers] in armed conflict; - work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children Hazardous child domestic work: 1 Domestic work that by its nature or the circumstances, in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. In Haiti, according to the draft "Order Establishing dangerous and prohibited forms of child labour" (MAST - 2013), it is prohibited to employ children under 15 years in domestic work, in addition, child domestic work is considered dangerous by the conditions under which it is exercised if realized: - For more than 6 hours a day for those in the age group 15 to16 years - For more than 8 hours a day for those in the age group 16 to 18 years - If the work is performed between 18:00 and 6:00 or - If the work is excessively demanding, physically or psychologically Youth employment in domestic work Children carrying out 1 household services (in own home): Means the professional activities, as part of domestic work, carried out in Haiti by a young person of 15 years of age or more, in decent work employment conditions. Household chores performed by children in their own homes, on reasonable terms and under close monitoring of adult members Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data of the family, are an integral part of family life and personal development, that is to say something positive. However, when the workload interferes with children's education or is excessive, in such cases, these situations should be considered equivalent to a child labour situation, that is to say, these are situations to be eliminated. Children performing household chores in their own homes, and children involved in domestic work (in the home of a third party) can perform similar tasks. However, in the first case, the element of the employment relationship does not exist, and so we should not refer to these situations as child domestic work. the definition of “Child labour in domestic work” is difficult to 1 operationalise, and becomes all-inclusive for children below 15 years (if we attempt to operationalise it in clear statistical terms): No domestic work in the house of a third party (even if it is a relative) is permissible. In this perspective, even half an hour of domestic work per day qualifies a child below the age of 15 years as a child labourer. As we show in Chapter 3, this is problematic in the Haitian 1 context, as it entails that almost all children living in the home of a third party will be included in a label of “child labour in domestic work”, regardless of whether they combine this work with schooling. Children who live with a parent, on the other hand, do not, even if they have heavier workloads (e.g. three hours per day) and do not go to school. for the above 15 year-olds, the hours of work specified are high 1 comparatively speaking: six hours a day permissible for 15 year olds and eight hours per day for 16 and 17-year olds. This workload is difficult to combine with schooling. Moreover, this discussion illustrates a complicating factor in 1 delineating and estimating child labour, namely that universal criteria of workload that do not take into account the general workloads of children in a given context may easily lead to far too all-inclusive estimates. Such all- inclusive estimates run the risk of missing out on significant differences in processes pertaining to the exploitation of children. To underline the point: This is not incompatible with ILO’s approach (2013b), in which it is acknowledged that children (also children below 15 year) often engage in household work that does not impact negatively on their education or health. Thus, Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data our approach and emphasis is made with particular reference to problems of operationalisation in research. Two final points should be made with reference to method in this 1 (ILO 2013b: 20). context. Firstly, with regard to ILO’s global estimate classifications, child labour in domestic work statistically includes: (i) all children aged 5-11 years engaged in domestic work; (ii) all children aged 12-14 years engaged in domestic work for more than 14 hours per week; and (iii) all children aged 15-17 years engaged in hazardous domestic work which includes “for long hours” defined for purposes of these estimates as “43 and more hours per week”. with respect to hazardous child domestic work, as defined above 1 (Table 1) one of the criteria specifies that work is hazardous if “excessively demanding, physically or psychologically”. It is challenging to find good operationalisations of hazardous work in Haiti, for statistical purposes.We return to this issue in Chapter 3 and consider working conditions in Chapter 5. in research terms, we do not “presume” that relationships should 1 (as indicated in the be defined as labour arrangements until the opposite is proven, lower right corner of but set out, precisely, to document workloads Figure 1) empirically.However, the criteria for a non-labour relationship defined in Figure 1 – specifying that a child is in school and does not work, but performs housework in the same way and under similar, acceptable conditions as other children in the household in which he/she lives – overlap with the criteria employed for the current study. 1 Approach In order to estimate the extent of child domestic work in Haiti, we 1 have defined a child domestic worker according to the following four criteria: ● the child is living without parents; ● has a high domestic workload,defined as in the upper three quintiles of weekly work hours for children’s age.(see Chapter 4) ● has insufficient education, i.e. never enrolled, not currently enrolled or enrolled in a lower level than expected for his or her age, and finally ● is aged 5 to 17 years (below 18). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The lower age limit of five years does not imply that younger 1 children are regarded as not exposed to exploitation, but rather reflects estimation purposes and possibilities, delays in education not making sense for children below five years of age we calculate living and working conditions based on data for all 1 children aged 5 through 17 years. With reference to the estimate of child domestic workers – we provide figures for the number of child domestic workers based on workload, inferior or no education, and separation from both parents, for the age groups 5 throughout 14; 5 throughout 15, and finally 5 throughout 17 (see Chapter 3). We also make calculations based on the distinction of domestic workload that exceeds 14 hours and 28 hours per week for the different age groups, and discuss what kind of figures and estimates of the extent of child domestic work and labour we produce when the criteria in are used. The aim of all of these calculations is to enable a discussion of who projects should reach: The many children that are aged 15 and who have heavy workloads, or the children who are below 15 years and live with a third party but do not (we show) have heavy burdens of work. In theoretical terms, the aim of this approach is to depict patterns 2 of interaction. Hence, we approach child domestic work as a social system, and seek to understand why original families, children themselves, and the people who “employ” them, act and react the ways they do, given the opportunities they are faced with. This analysis enables an understanding of how practices and relations are generated, and thus, an understanding of the effects of intervening in these practices, and how such interventions should be directed. as discussed in Chapter 1, we aim to move beyond a narrow 2 (cf. Honwana 2005: conception of children’s “agency”, and the concomitant 47ff.; Leifsen, 2013). distinction between children’s agency and victimisation Thus, we approach child domestic labour by putting agency in 2 (Carsten, 2000) relational perspective. This approach rests on an analytical framework that perceives of relation-making as a basis of personhood We explore the many social connections and movements that 2 define working childhood and the specificities of Haitian children’s volatility. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Methodology, fieldworks and sources of data Findings in this report are based on statistical data from a 2 (see Lunde, Liu and nation-wide household survey carried out in September 2014 Pedersen 2014) The report also draws on insights from a qualitative fieldwork 2 carried out in Haiti in September 2014, and an institutional study that included fieldwork in Haiti from May to September 2014. In addition, we have reviewed recent academic literature and 2 see especially policy-related works on child domestic work and labour in Haiti. Chapter 7). Insights from this desk study appear in comparative perspective throughout the chapters, as statistical data from the survey and material from the qualitative fieldwork and the institutional study are analysed in relation to existing literature in the field. Needless to say, the institutional analysis also relies on document reviews The survey: Questionnaires and sample ● The survey was developed to generate updated estimates on 2 the number of child domestic workers in Haiti. ● also wanted to identify characteristics of households that are prone to send and receive children in domestic work arrangements (e.g. in terms of household size and economy). ● to characterize the profile of child domestic workers in terms of age, gender, labour tasks, workload, education, health, punishment and abuse, sleep and sleeping arrangements, clothing, and parental contact. Extending the survey tool from 2001 in order to better capture 2 (in line with the Haiti migration pattern of child domestic workers, we added questions Youth Survey from on children’s number of moves, reasons for moving, and the 2009, see e.g. Lunde social circumstances around children’s mobility 2010 As a result of this, and following input from the IHE, the Technical 2 Committee and Fafo’s desk review, the quantitative survey questionnaire used for the current research has thus been extended, and is far more detailed on issues relevant to children compared to the 2001 questionnaire. Two main questionnaires were used: 2 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●a household questionnaire: The household questionnaire contained three rosters and a set of questions about the household. ●three rosters: A household roster collected basic information about all household members, while a child roster collected more detailed information on children in the household aged 5-17. Main topics in the child roster were education, domestic work, social conditions, health status and parental contact. In addition, a roster for children who had left the household the last five years prior to the survey was included. The household questionnaire also contained questions on household level on topics such as household economy, dwelling and infrastructure, as well as a module on perceptions of child relocation. In each surveyed household a child responded to the randomly 2 selected child questionnaire. Households without a member in the age range 5-17 were not found eligible for interview In households without children separated from their parents, the 2 (Angold et al. 1995) respondent was randomly selected from all children within the age range. The child questionnaire included questions on the same topics as addressed in the household questionnaire, but they were directed to the individual respondent. In addition the child questionnaire included questions on relocation, treatment in the household and a short psychological mood and feelings self-assessment.The self-assessment questionnaire is designed to screen for depression in general populations of children and adolescents from the age of eight The depression index is reported on in the current synthesis 2 (see tables 6.9 to report. The tabulation report includes some of the individual 6.14 in Lunde, Liu and questions that make up the index Pedersen 2014). Both the household and the child questionnaires are to be found 2 at www.fafo.no. The survey sample included 2,160 households, distributed in 80 2 see the Tabulation randomly selected clusters, stratified according to an urban/rural report for details: distinction Lunde, Liu and Pedersen 2014). The national sample was stratified into four regions: North, 2 South, Transversale and West (the latter including the metropolitan region). Sample : 2 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 1.At the first stage of sampling, the 80 clusters were selected based on a probability proportionate to the number of households in each cluster. 2.Prior to the second stage of sampling, each cluster was mapped and all households were listed and screened for the presence of children not living together with their parents. 3. In total, 13,402 households were visited as part of the screening exercise. 4.Two lists were made in each cluster: one for the households hosting children separated from their parents and one for households not hosting children separated from their parents. 5.For each cluster, a total of 27 households were selected. ● Out of these, 20 households were randomly chosen from the list of households with children separated from their parents. ● 7 households were chosen from the list of households without separated children. ● In clusters where there were less than 20 households hosting separated children, all were selected for interview and additional households were selected from the other list, giving a total of 27 households in each cluster.(Lunde, Liu and Pedersen 2014: 12) 6.In each eligible household two respondents were interviewed: 1) the head of household. If the household head was not available, another adult, informed household member was interviewed. 2) A randomly selected child in the household. In the households hosting separated children, the child was selected from this group of children. If there were no children aged 5-17 living in the household, the household was not found eligible for interview. 7. In total, 2,078 households and 1,617 randomly selected children were interviewed. Out of the children, 959 were separated children and 658 were children living with their biological parents. The response rate was 98.7 percent on the household level and 97 percent on the child level. Qualitative fieldwork Fieldwork was carried out by Tone Sommerfelt (PhD of 2 anthropology, who also conducted fieldwork for the 2001-study) and Helen Spraos. Helen Spraos has carried out the institutional analysis for the current research, and Fafo wanted to benefit from her insights from that study as well as from her long-term Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data engagement with work in Haiti, her Creole language skills and wide, informal, network of people and families independently of NGO and GO-networks. Respondents, interviewees and participants were recruited partly 2 by the assistance of the Technical Committee, via UNICEF, and partly through the independent and personal networks of Helen Spraos and Tone Sommerfelt. In addition, we also recruited respondents “sur site”: People who heard that we were in a settlement volunteered to tell us about their own experiences, views, and histories relating to sending or receiving children. A main point of the qualitative fieldwork is to disconnect 2 information gathering from directly related project work, in order to avoid that respondents adjust their explanations to the hope of obtaining direct assistance or benefit as a result. This was also one of the reasons why we tried to recruit as many respondents possible independently of NGO-networks. The overall aim of the supplementary qualitative fieldwork was to 2 provide independent findings that cannot be obtained by a pre-defined questionnaire design, as well as to provide input on the analysis of the quantitative material by identifying relevant connections to explore statistically. The topics covered in interviews, informal conversations and 2 group discussions with people included especially: ● the different mechanisms of recruitment of child domestic workers, including initiatives among caretakers, employers and children and the use middlemen or recruiters (a topic that arose during the 2001-study but that could not be pursued in detail) The topics covered in interviews, informal conversations and 2 group discussions with people included especially: ●motivations, life and work experiences of children in domestic service and among former domestics in the areas of origin and of destination. ● Reasoning over child placement among the original caretakers of children in domestic service, including parents’ views on children’s education. ● perceptions among employers with regard to the use of children as domestics and the treatment of children taken in The different categories of respondents included : 2 ● current and former child domestic workers Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● children living away from original family (in different forms of living arrangements). ● receivers/guardians/employers of child domestic workers; ● parents and/or family members of children sent into domestic work or into a new home; ● middlemen, formal and informal, in the recruitment process of child domestic workers (no formal recruiters, koutiye, were identified); ● Resource personnel/other key informants (religious leaders, school teachers and headmasters, local community leaders, NGO-representatives, etc; ● other adults and children not directly or personally involved in child placement. Fieldwork and interviews were carried out in September 2014, 2 and took place in in different areas of : ● Carrefour Feuilles, also in also camp settings; ● in different neighbourhoods of Port-au- Prince (including Cité Soleil) in camp and non-camp settings; ● in different areas of Petionville, Jacmel. ● Marigot (Plateau Desira, Seguin and Cassé Dent) and in Grand Goave. In addition to a series of informal conversations, this fieldwork 2 (see table in Annex 1 included individual interviews and group discussions with for details) approximately 110 people. Institutional study Helen Spraos, an international consultant who is Creole-speaking 2 and has 15 years’ of experience in programming activities and research in Haiti, conducted the institutional study. The techniques used to collect the data in this report were 2 essentially: ●Document reviews, with a particular focus on the material produced by organisations and institutions active in the field of child protection in Haiti, and in particular, of children in domestic service (publications, reports, leaflets, DVDs, etc.). Reviews included internet sources and written information from organisations that participated in the study. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The techniques used to collect the data in this report were 2 (the guide is to be essentially: found in Annex 3) ●Semi-structured interviews, lasting from 20 minutes to three hours, conducted with resource persons belonging to the organisations that are the subject of institutional analysis A total of 123 people representing 58 institutions participated in 2 cf. list of participants the interviews over a period of six weeks, from 6th of May to 20th in Annex 2 of June 2014, and during the period from September 12th to 21st Much of the interviews were conducted in Port-au-Prince 2 because of the concentration of offices in the metropolitan area. In addition to interviews carried out in the metropolitan area, field visits were conducted in: ● Jacmel in the Southeast department. ● the city of Les Cayes in the South and in Grand Goave in the west. ● in Mirebalais in the Central Plateau. ● Gonaives in the department of Artibonite. Though insights from the institutional study appear throughout 2 the chapters, the main findings are gathered in Chapter 7. The institutional study is the first attempt to map the stakeholders and the methods they use in the sector in Haiti. Therefore, we sought to identify and make contact with as many stakeholders as possible instead of proceeding on the basis of a sampling according to criteria of randomisation. We used a 'snowball' approach, taking the members of the Technical Committee as a starting point and following up with the organisations mentioned in these interviews. In view of the short time available and the many organisations of 2 civil society that seek to address the issue of child domestic work in Haiti: ● we were unable to meet all stakeholders. ● we were able to make contact with the majority of the actors playing a key role in the sector and, in addition, keep a balance between the different types of institutions (public, private, non-governmental, community) and include several geographical regions. ● we were not able to visit all the departments of the country, and chose to prioritise the relatively accessible major towns where it has been reported that the mechanisms for the protection of children has had some momentum. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Our interview notes were analysed according to : 2 ● our main themes of interest ●regarding mandate ●mission statements ● strategies adopted ●partnerships ● achievements and constraints ● resources and financing Detailed data were registered in a separate database. The 2 database includes data on 31 organisations. Aiming to highlight general tendencies, especially with respect to 2 the organisations’ methodologies, the institutional study in this report cannot deal with all aspects of the work of institutions. As it is also different from an evaluation – it does not set out to measure the impact of various approaches and intuitions. Furthermore, we could not force institutions to participate. This has consequences for the current study. Some particularities of the methodological challenges we faced 2 24 during the institutional study should be mentioned: ●Several organizations target vulnerable or abused children – or child protection generally – without distinction and without explicit definitions of child domestic work and labour. ●Children included in such programming activities are, for example: ●street children ●orphans ●abused children ●children in domestic service it is often difficult to quantify organisations’ input: 2 ●much information provided by the organisations we contacted is inaccurate and not suitable for further comparisons, either because time periods for which data is reported do not match, or the bases of data compilation differs (e.g. the budget figures may include salaries in some cases, but not in others). ● Data on children reported by the organisations are often disaggregated by children’s gender, but when they are, they rarely report on age groups. ● there is a risk of double counting because donors provide figures in order to cover activities implemented by partners that have reported separately. ●With few exceptions, relatively little additional information was made available by organisations that participated in the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data institutional study in written form. Most information was presented in the form of verbal shared data during interviews of limited duration. This may lead to inaccuracies. ●some people were unable to respond to our request for an appointment during fieldwork due to illness, extended travel etc, leaving gaps in information. ●In other cases, interviewees were unable to provide the requested information. ● Some information was also received at a very late stage of the research process, and was difficult to include in the main analysis. the absence of a definition of a “child domestic worker” in the 2 organisational sector and a clearly defined framework has made discussions with partners difficult. Some ambiguities arise from the legal framework itself (see discussion above). the use of the term “trafficking” (as defined in Article 3a of the 2 The use of these terms Palermo Protocol, as discussed above) and “slavery” tend to convey that all complicates debates, as they exclude forms of child labour that children in domestic service are subjected cannot be captured by concepts included in the “worst forms” to trafficking or live, or (as entailed in trafficking and slavery) have lived, in conditions similar to slavery, which gives a rather sensationalist image of the subject. See Smucker and Murray (2004: 155ff) for a discussion of approaches in this respect. the notion of restavek does not encompass all forms of child 2 domestic work in the legal sense. the objective is to make recommendation about priorities as well 2 as possible consequences – and unintended consequences – of initiatives aimed to improve the lives of children in Haiti, and children in domestic work. 2 Ethical considerations During the development of the methodology for the current 2 cf. Childethics.com study, the guidelines of the international “Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC)” project were consulted. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data We paid particular attention to the ethical challenges that arise in 2 relation to the roles and responsibilities researchers and sponsoring institutions achieving meaningful informed consent, maintaining confidentiality and privacy, assessing the representativeness of “local authorities” in facilitating research on behalf of vulnerable populations, and finally, ethical issues that arise in the publication or dissemination of research findings. It is important to emphasise that participants to this study (as well 2 as names of villages or local communities) will remain anonymous. Participants were also made aware of the fact that the research will not lead to immediate or direct intervention from FAFO, though NGO’s or governmental organisations may use the information to organise activities ●The research project set-up with a Technical Committee 2 improved the opportunities for doing ethically sound research with follow-up from organizations after interviewing. ●Ahead of the fieldwork for the survey, interviewers received two weeks of training. The supervisors participated during the interviewer training and received an additional two weeks of specialised training. ●All participants in the survey signed a code of conduct developed by UNICEF. ●The training was conducted by IHE staff, supervised by Fafo and following a field manual developed by Fafo. The technical committee was represented by staff from World Vision, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), who held lectures in child sensitive interviewing. No suspected cases of child abuse were reported during the 2 quantitative fieldwork During the qualitative fieldwork, we came across several 2 accounts of abuse from children during fieldwork. ●All of these accounts were retold in centres where the children were already taken into care precisely because of this abuse. ●In addition, we forwarded several children who were not in school to different educational facilities. ● Between 10 and 15 of these children were later assisted by community workers into educational arrangements. Chapter outline Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Chapter 3: makes estimates of the number child domestic 2 workers based on different criteria, and presents some general demographic characteristics. Chapter 4:describes some overall characteristics of children’s living arrangements, workloads and educational levels, in order to provide a broader perspective for comparisons of child domestic work and labour with situations defined in different terms. Chapter 5:focuses on the children’s working and living conditions, and on experiences of the conditions under which child domestic workers live. Chapter 6:we analyse the broader socio-economic relations of which child domestic workers make part, by way of assessments of the children’s backgrounds; the households that employ children for domestic work; and the relationship between them in term of social inequality. Chapter 7: presents the institutional study Chapter 8 : sums up research findings, discusses how methodologies in the policy field match the empirical realities on the ground, and present recommendations. 3.Numbers and distributions of child domestic worker in Haiti In this chapter, we start by estimating the percentages of child 2 (cf. Figure 1) domestic workers in the child population based on delineations provided by the Technical Committee to this study. Different definitions produce different numbers Child living in own home: In Haiti, three out of four children (74 2 percent), aged five to 18 years live with one or both parents. 44 percent of all children live with both parents, while 31 live with only one parent. Children living with the extended family: 2 ●Seven percent of Haitian children live in the household that they were born into, but where parents have moved out or have died. These children most often live with grandparents or their parents’ siblings. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Another 11 percent of children in Haiti tell that they live with what they refer to as “well-knowns” – which mainly are relatives. ● In total, then, 18 percent of children aged five to 18 in Haiti are living with their extended family. Children living with third party: The remaining seven percent of 2 Haitian children are living with what they characterize as people they did not know prior to the move into their present home, or who they only knew a little before they moved. it is a clear tendency that it is the older children that move to 2 (Figure 2) extended family, whereas movements to a third part is not related to the age of the children. Domestic work: 2 ● Only two percent of all children in the age group five to 18 report that they never do any domestic tasks. It is only children below eight years of age that say they never carry out any domestic work. ●Among the latter, 11 percent say they never take part in any domestic work. ●Another 24 percent of all children (regardless of age) did not perform any work the day before the interview (“yesterday”, or if the last day was a weekend, last weekday), but report to do such work on a regularly basis. ●Six out of ten children (57 percent) carried out less than 4 hours of work the last workday. ●More than 8 hours of work was carried out by two percent of the children, and three percent worked between six and eight hours. ● around four out of five children eight years of age or older did some form of work the previous weekday. Child domestic work: 2 ●According to the framework provided by ILO and the Technical Committee to this study, how such work should be defined depends on whether or not a child lives with a third party. ●child domestic work refers to a situation where children perform domestic work in the home of a third party or employer with or without pay. ●Out of the children in Haiti that live separated from their parents, only one percent says that they never perform domestic work, and another 21 percent had not performed any domestic work the previous weekday. Child labour in domestic work: 2 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●In Haiti, the minimum age for non-hazardous forms of domestic work is 15 years. ●Thus, strictly speaking (and related to problems of operationalisation, as pointed out in Chapter 2), all the work that younger children perform is defined as non-permissible, in this framework. ●80 percent of all children below 15 years who live away from parents live in situations of child labour in domestic work. ●Children 15 years old may work up to six hours a day, and 3 children aged 16 and 17, up to eight hours a day. ●In Haiti, our figures show that in Haiti, among the 15-year olds who live away from parents, a total of nine percent work hours or more per day. ●In comparison, among the 15 year olds who live with parents, the figure is six percent. ●Among the 16 and 17 year olds who live away from parents, five percent work eight hours or more. ●In comparison, three percent among the 16 and 17 year-olds who live with parents work eight hours or more per day. ●It should be noted, that many children aged 15 to 18 work from one to six hours per day. ● A workload of 4 to six hours per day is difficult to combine with education. In Figure 4,all the non-permissible situations – ‘Child Labour in 3 Domestic Work’ – are put against a red background. As is evident, it is only the children that live separately from their parents that fall into the non-permissible situations, according to this understanding. ●special attention should be made to the children younger than 14 years of age that work more than four hours a day. ●As many as 40 percent of the children who live away from parents aged 11-13 years work more than four hours a day, ●15 percent work more than six hours/day. ●Another group of children that requires scrutiny is the children 3 as shown to the living with their parents, and have a high workload. right in Figure 4 ●Most children of this category do perform work. Even though this is considered “permissible” in the given framework, a workload of more than four hours a day is difficult to combine with schooling. As specified above, according to this framework, nearly 80 3 Figure 4 Child percent of the children below 15 years of age living separately labour in Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data from their parents will belong to the category “Child Labour in Domestic Work Domestic Work”. (left) compared ●In contrast,only nine percent of the 15 years-olds and five to children living with percent of the 16-17 years old children living without parents will parents with be defined in this group. same workload (right) In the Haitian context, to single out child domestic workers in the 3 whether domestic worst forms of child labour is particularly difficult. This applies workers or not, equally to children below 15 years as well 15 to 17 year-olds.In see Table 10 and Table 11) the Haitian context, to single out child domestic workers in the worst forms of child labour is particularly difficult. This applies equally to children below 15 years as well 15 to 17 year-olds.As will become evident from the analysis that follows, this is related to the fact that all Haitian children work. ●Usually, children perform domestic tasks without being paid, 3 which complicates the application of terms such as "exploitation" and "slavery" to describe (some) child domestic workers specifically. criteria used to define hazardous child domestic work in the ILO 3 Table 1 framework. ● specifies that work is hazardous if “excessively demanding, physically or psychologically. ●include children’s work with dangerous object and hazardous substances ●most Haitian children engage in the same types of tasks that also involve the use of sharp object or proximity to open fire. (see Figure 23) Relative workload, educational performance an parent-child separation As shown in Figure 3,most children in all age groups do some 3 Figure 3 Hours of kind of domestic tasks, whether they live with parents or not. This work spent on definition is based on a fixed cut-off for hours of domestic work household chores for specific age-groups. yesterday by age. The length of each bar shows the percentage f children in each Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data age-group that worked yesterday In the study of child domestic workers from 2001.age-adjusted 3 see Pedersen and cut off points for domestic work were used.However, these were Hatløy 2002). relative and not fixed. In brief, this means that the children working most compared to the other children in the age-group were considered to be at risk. In addition, education was taken into account in the 2001 study: 3 ●In order to be characterized as a child domestic worker, the child living away from parents should have a relatively high workload and be delayed in his or her education. ●This definition captured a much higher proportion of the children aged 15 and above, but left out a larger part of the children under the age of 15 that have done some household tasks. This difference will be considered in further detail later in this chapter. Figure 5 shows that if we apply the 2001 definition on the current 3 Figure 5 Proportion data, a larger proportion of the children between 15 and 17 are of all children defined as Child Domestic Workers. that are defined as either in All other studies have also found a relatively large proportion of Child Labour in child domestic workers in the older age-groups. According to the Domestic Work framework of the Technical Committee, most children aged 15 or as Child and above fall outside of the child domestic worker category. Domestic Workers (based on 2001 definition) by age groups Estimations based on workload, education an separateness from parents Based on the discussion in the previous section, we have 3 chosen to include three factors in the estimation of child domestic workers in Haiti: 1.child is living away from its parents. 2.child is not following normal progression in education. 3.child is working more than other children. In order to operationalize the workload criterion we have chosen 3 (see Table 11, Chapter that the child is among those in the upper three quintiles in the 4). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data workload distribution. Since the acceptable workload varies with age, the quintiles have been calculated separately for six different age groups between five and seventeen The second step, given this definition, is the actual proportion of 3 child domestic workers aged five to seventeen as recorded by the survey. This proportion is 13.1 percent, with a 95 percent confidence interval of 10.8 percent to 15.9 percent. The third step is translating this proportion to a number. 3 ●In principle this can be done using the so-called expansion weights from the survey, i.e. adding together how many children in the population each selected child represents. ●However, since the sample is relatively small, the estimate is subject to large variability. It is therefore prudent to adjust the estimate to the actual size of 3 the child population, as far as this is known. ●Unfortunately, the last census of Haiti was in 2004, and current population figures are projections based on assumptions about the development of fertility, mortality and migration. Regrettably, the various recent surveys, and the population 3 projection of the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) return relatively different age structures of children. The 2012 Demographic and Health Survey is relatively similar to the present survey for the under eighteens, but different to the population projection. In contrast the ECVMAS of 2012 differs significantly from the 3 ECVMAS = Enquete two other surveys, as well as the UNPD projection. sur les conditions de vie des menages apres le seisme, carried out by the IHSI (The Haitian Statistical Bureau with support from the World Bank and the DIAL joint research unit of France. we have elected to simply use the projected population count 3 from the projection as basis for the number estimate, without correcting for the rather uncertain internal structure of the child population. Or, put in another way, we accept the age and gender structure of the current survey, while using the total number from the projection. The projection arrives at a population count of 3,105,000 children aged from five to seventeen years in 2014. It Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data is possible that this number is somewhat over stated because the projection does not take migration sufficiently into account. Four hundred thousand: The maximum estimate base on workload and education Based on the definition of child domestic workers in terms 3 parent-child separation, higher workload and lower educational performance, as well as the assumptions and estimates above, there were 407,000 child domestic workers in Haiti in 2014, with a 95 percent confidence interval ranging from 335,000 to 494,000. The confidence interval is approximate because the unknown uncertainty of the population numbers has not been considered. We estimated that there were 173,000 child domestic workers in 3 2001 with a similar definition to the one used here. The huge increase in the estimated number of child domestic 3 workers is related to three factors: ●increase in the proportion of child domestic workers; ●change of population estimates; ●increase of the child population. The first aspect is the fact that the proportion of child domestic 3 workers out of the total child population has increased. ●In 2001 we found the proportion to be 8.2 percent.Thus, the increase is nearly five percentage points. ●In 2001 we considered that because of the fertility decline, which indeed has continued since 2001, there would be a smaller number of children available for fostering because parents would be inclined to keep all their few children. That assumption appears wrong, or other factors have increased the supply and demand for children. The second factor of the increase is a more technical issue of 3 estimation: ●the results of the census in 2004 implied that we probably had underestimated the size of the child population in 2001. ●While we had used the figure of 2.1 million children between ages five to seventeen, there were probably 2.9 million children. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The 2.9 million-figure in turn implies that there in fact were 239,000 child domestic workers in Haiti in 2001, rather than 173,000. Regarding the estimate of the child population one should note 3 that currently the situation is only slightly better than in 2001. ●In 2001 the population estimates were based on projection from the 1982 census and therefore rather uncertain. ●The 2004 census on which the current projection is based is now 11 years old. one must be clear that the estimate of the size of the child 3 population is uncertain. ● Given the poor migration data; ● uncertainties about exact fertility levels and age patterns of fertility; ●mortality patterns; Third, and finally, regardless of the various demographic data 3 and assumptions, the child population has grown since 2011. ●Based on the projection the growth has been about 200,000 children between 2001 and 2014. ●The relatively small increase of 0.5 percent per year is partly because of the fertility decline that Haiti has experienced. ●If the proportion of children living as domestics had been constant at the 2001 level, with current population projections, there would have been 257,000 child domestic workers today, i.e. 152,000 less than what is found. The proportion of child domestic workers is lowest for young 3 children. ●Of the children aged five to nine-7 percent (95% CI 5.3-9.2%) are child domestic workers. ●in the age group ten to fourteen - 16.3 percent (95% CI 12.5-21.1) are child domestic workers. ● of those aged fifteen to seventeen - 17 percent (95% CI 12.4-22.9%) are child domestic workers. Girls are more often child domestic workers than boys. ● Of the girls, 15.9 (95% CI 12.9-19.5%) are child domestic workers. ● while 10.6 percent (95% CI 7.9-14%) of the boys are. ●The percentages correspond to 236,000 girls and 171,000 boys. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Of the children aged between five and seventeen 25.7 percent, 3 or 797,000 (95% CI 719,000- 876,000) are living without both parents. Multivariate analysis of the propensity to be a relocated child, 3 The multivariate depending on the age, gender, if residence is urban or rural and analysis in the location in Haiti only yields age as a statistically significant question was a design explanatory variable, and the model fit in general is very poor. corrected logistic regression, Nagelkerke’s pseudo r-square was 0.032. Thus, there is little evidence that being relocated is determined 3 by gender, location or residence. ● Relocation is necessarily related to age as the decisions to relocate a child does all take place at the same age. ●there is a natural tendency that the relocation prevalence increases with age, if we assume that once relocated a child generally stays relocated. Stricter definitions of age result in lower numbers The child domestic workers are a relatively diverse group along 3 several dimensions. ●One such dimension is age, and reducing the top of the age range reduces the number of child domestic workers significantly using the same definition as above. This is because the highest percentages of child domestic workers are found among the older children and because the number of old children is large. Accordingly, the number of child domestic workers aged five to 3 fourteen years is 286,000 (95 % confidence interval 233,000 – 350,000). One may argue that children aged fifteen and above should not 3 be considered child domestic workers, because their schooling is not mandatory and few have an observed work load that surpass legal limits. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The present estimate is more than a doubling of the number 3 compared with our 2001 estimate for the five to fourteen age group, which was 134,000. As was the case for the whole five to seventeen age group. 3 ● the increase stems from an increase in the percentage. ● an increase in the estimated population base; ● population growth. The number of child domestic workers aged five to thirteen 3 years is 229,000 (95 % confidence interval 184,000 – 283,000). Again, and for the same reasons as those stated above, the estimate about twice as high as the similarly constructed estimate from 2001 (115,000). So far, we have considered estimates based on the three factors. ●living away from parents. ●delay or absence of education. ● working in one of the three highest quintiles. It may be argued that including the three highest quintiles result in an over estimate, since the work load is not higher than two hours a day for any age group in the third quintile except for the 15 to 17 one (where the limit on hours is not so relevant in any case). Two approaches to restricting the definition have been tested. 3 Restricting the ●The first is loosening the work criteria to the two highest definition to only the quintiles. highest quintile appears unreasonable, ●The second is to restrict the work criteria to an absolute number since it would imply of hours allowable for each age group. that it is acceptable for all age group except for the very youngest to work more than 18 hours per week). Restricting the estimate of the number of child domestic workers 3 through relaxing the to only the two highest quintiles results in a total estimate of 9.1 percent or a total 284,000 (95% CI 233,000 –334,000) for the five to seventeen age group, that is, a reduction of about 122,000 compared to the estimate that uses the three highest quintiles. In workload terms it means an unchanged workload for the 3 (see Table 11 in youngest group, and an increase of the minimum to be Chapter 4 for precise considered as child domestic of four to seven hours per day for changes). the other age groups Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data As was seen for the wider definition, restricting the age range to 3 Table 2: Numerical five to fourteen years results in a smaller estimate, both as a consequences of percentage (8.6 percent) and as absolute numbers: 207,000 different restrictions on the definition of child children (95% CI 166,000 – 248,000). Restricting the age range domestic workers even further has similar consequences (see Table 2). The majority of children living away from their parents live 3 as noted in Chapter 4. together with relatives the percentage child domestic workers among those living 3 without relatives are strikingly different from that among those living with relatives: ● 60 percent (95% CI 44- 75%) of children aged five to seventeen years living without relatives can be classed as child domestic workers. ● while 10.6 (95% CI 8.5-13.2%) of those living with relatives can . The huge difference in the width of the confidence intervals for 3 the two estimates stems from the fact that : ● only 180 children was observed as living without relatives. ● while 1409 lived with relatives. ●The estimates are practically the same for those aged five to fifteen years. Table 3: Number of domestic child workers in Haiti, various 3 Pierre, Y.-F., et al. estimates: 2009 ● PADF 2009 -225 -5-14 years- 1458 interviews in “troubled urban PADF 2009 areas” in some Haitian cities/towns HLCS 2001 High -173 -(5 – 17 years) National sample: 3 Pedersen & Hatløy residence,HLCS 2001 High workload and education 2002 HLCS 2001 Low 124( 5 – 17 years) National sample: 3 Pedersen & Hatløy residence,workload and education 2002 HLCS 2001 High 134(5 – 14 years )National sample: 3 Pedersen & Hatløy residence,HLCS 2001 High workload and education 2002 HLCS 2001 High 115 (5 – 13 years)National sample: 3 Pedersen & Hatløy residence,HLCS 2001 High workload and education 2002 Emmus III 2000 -87 -Asked household heads if unrelated 3 Cayemittes, M., et children in their households were restaveks. al. 2001 IPSOFA/UNICEF 1998 -300 -Not specified 3 IPSOFA 1998 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data UNICEF 1997- 250 - Not specified 3 UNICEF 1997 UNICEF 1993 -130- 0 – 15 years Sample of 1117 children in 3 3 UNICEF 1993 towns adjusted to whole population IHSI/IBESR 1982 -109 -5 – 17 years Estimated from 3 Dorélien 1984 self-reporting of household composition in 1982 Census of Haiti Clesca 1982---lI-240 -6 – 15 years Doubling of Clesca 1982 – I 3 Clesca 1984 based on inclusion of relatives and lodgers/tenants. The present estimate is not the only one of the number of 3 Table 3, see domestic child workers in Haiti. Several publications report reference list for estimated numbers of domestic child workers bibliographical details Age, gender and geography child domestic work is related to age and gender: 3 ●the older children are nearly three times as likely to be child domestic workers as the younger ones. ● girls are more likely to be than boys. ● This holds true regardless of whether we change criteria of workload or age. the fact that girls score more poorly than boys in being both 3 delayed at school, and working more at the same time.Thus, for girls work and lack of education are a double whammy, while for boys the two are independent disadvantages. The percentage of child domestic workers (regardless of 3 workload or age in our definition) does not show much difference according to the geographic region in Haiti. While Transversale have higher percentages than others, the 3 see e.g. Pierre et differences can easily be due to chance. In contrast to what is al. 2009) often believed A similar logistic regression model as the one carried out for 3 whether or not the child is relocated shows that age and gender are significant variables as predictors of child domestic work, but again overall model fit is poor. 3 Conclusion Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data If we define “child domestic workers” as people under the age of 3 in accordance with 18 years, that perform domestic work in the home of a third party, the framework either paid or unpaid in Figure 1 most of the persons below 18 years who live away from parents 3 fall into this category: ● This category includes both permissible and non-permissible situations. ●Among the non- permissible, “child labour in domestic work” defines 15 as an absolute boundary – all work performed in the household of a third party qualifies as child domestic labour as long as the child is under the age of 15. ●With the figures we have in Haiti, this would include 80 percent 3 of children below the age of 15 who live away from parents. ●with the high workloads specified as permissible for the children 15 years and older, very few children fall in the category of non- permissible situations. Put differently, according to this understanding, the numbers on 3 (Figure 5). child labour in domestic work drops drastically at 15 years A definition based on relative workload, educational performance 3 and parent-child separation gives a different picture: ●According to these criteria, the age distribution of child domestic workers is different, and numbers increase with age. ●This definition also leads to considerable numbers of child domestic workers below 15 years of age, but it is not as all- inclusive of the below 15-year-olds as is the previous definition. According to the definition based on relative workload, education 3 and parents-child separation, both the absolute number and the percentage of child domestic workers in Haiti have increased during the last fifteen years. The highest estimate of 407 000 child domestic workers, 3 obtained by including those over 15 years of age, is probably on the high side, because of the difficulty in applying standards for schooling and work for that group. Thus, a more reasonable figure is perhaps the 286 000 found 3 restricting the age to five to fourteen years. part of the increase in numbers stem from increases in child 3 population size : Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● due to population growth, albeit this increase is comparatively small. ● Another reason for the increase in numbers compared to previous estimates is that the earlier assumptions about the population size in 2001 were too low. ● That, of course, is a technicality rather than a substantive issue. ● Finally, and most importantly, the prevalence of child domestic labour has increased. 4.Contexts of children’s work and education contemporary Haiti In this chapter we describe overall patterns of children’s living 3 The quantitative arrangements in Haiti, i.e. who children live with, as well as their analyses in this educational level and workload. chapter are, when nothing else is mentioned, based on the information from the household roster files in ‘Child Domestic Survey 201 The purpose of this contextualisation : 3 ● is to provide a broader perspective for comparisons of child domestic work with situations defined in different terms. ● Another purpose is to identify three vulnerabilities that can be employed as criteria for the delineation and definition of child domestic workers for the purpose of statistical study. ●These vulnerabilities include : ●parent-child separation i.e. whether children live away from their parents ● delayed education ●high domestic work load. Children and living arrangements In 2001, one out of five Haitian children (19 percent) aged 5 to 3 HLCS 2001, see 17 lived separately from their biological parents. Sommerfelt, ●This number has increased to one out of four (26 percent) in ed., 2002 the present 2014-survey. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Among all the children in this age group, 8 percent no longer have a living mother, and 12 percent do not have their father alive. As shown in Table 4, 3 Table 4 Percentage of ●only half of the children live together with their biological father all children with (51 percent), mothers and fathers alive, and percentage ●69 percent live together with their mother. who live in the same ● Less than half of Haitian children, 44 percent, live together with household as their both their biological parents (Table 4). mother and father (all children UnWn=3525) Among the 26 percent of the children that live away from their 4 The term “Restavek” biological parents, most live with other relatives . was used as a code in ●Living with grandparents is the most frequent living arrangement the questionnaire with respect to the relation for these children. between household ●17 percent of children who live away from parents do not have members and the any prior relation to their current household head. household head. This ●13 percent of these children are characterized as ‘Other alternative was not non-relatives’. probed, and was only ●4 percent are characterized as “Restavèk” by respondents. noted if the respondent used the term him/her-self. The term CDW – child domestic worker – will be defined for statistical purposes in chapter 3, and is not based on the respondents’ own uses of the term. In the figure below, we distinguish between children who live 4 Figure 6 Relation to away from their parents, according to the following criterion: Household head for 1) Children living with “other relatives” (as grandchild, sister’s or children living without their biological parents brother’s child, cousin, other relative of spouse, sibling, other in the household (blue relative, adopted or fostered child, sibling of spouse, Godchild lives together with or son/daughter-in-law); relatives, green with 2) Children living with non- relatives – registered by respondents none-relatives) (UnW as “other non-relative” or “restavèk”. n=1467) ●In sum, three out of four Haitian children (74 percent) live with 4 Figure 7 Living one or two parents. arrangements for ●one of five live with extended family (22 percent). Haitian children under age 18 ● one of twenty-five live with a third party (4 percent). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Regional differences in living arrangements As shown in Table 5, 74 percent of children live together with 4 either one or both parents. ●However, there is a tendency that fewer children in the North live together with non-relatives than in the West (2 versus 6 percent). However, there are differences in living arrangements between 4 children living in urban and rural areas. ● In urban areas, fewer children live with both parents (31 percent versus 51 in rural), and more live with relatives or non-relatives. ● In rural areas, half of both the boys and the girls live in the same households as both of their parents, while this is only the case for one out of three children in urban areas (Table 5). ● The rural boys are those who most rarely live with non-relatives 4 (3 percent). ● while the urban girls are those who most frequently live with non-relatives (6 percent. Living arrangement and household characteristics ●The highest proportion of children living with biological parents 4 live in a household where the household head is in the age-span 35-49, which correspond to the age of their parents. There is no difference in the age of the household head for the 4 Figure 8 Age of children living with other relatives and the children living with household head non-relatives. by living arrangement As shown in Table 6: 4 Table 6 Mean ●mean number of household members is between 6 and 7 for all number of groups, with the exception of urban children living with only household-mem bers in fathers that are somewhat lower. households ●children living with both parents in rural area that is somewhat where children higher. aged 5 to 17 lives by living arrangement and area Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Living arrangements from 2001 to 2014 ●The rural children tend to live more frequently together with one 4 Figure 9 Percent of or both of their parents than the urban children. This is the same children 5-17 tendency that surveys conducted in 2001 and 2009 have found years of age living biological (see Figure 9). parents (one or ●However, it seems to be a trend that children not living with their both), other parents increasingly live together with other relatives, and fewer relatives and live with non-relatives. non-relatives by gender and area. Comparison between the surveys in Haiti Living Condition Survey 2001, Haiti Youth Survey 2009 and Haiti Child Domestic Workers in Haiti 2014 4 Education Below, we look at the educational levels of Haitian children, and make a preliminary analysis of these in relation to the living arrangements described above. 4 Enrolment Nearly all children above 12 years of age have been enrolled, 4 either previously or currently (Table7) : ●Only 1-2 percent of the children in this age-group that live with their biological parents or other relatives have never attended school. ●while this is the case for 4-6 percent of those living with non-relatives. For the children younger than 12 years of age. 4 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● less than 90 percent have ever attended school no matter their living arrangements. Regarding the children that are currently enrolled to school : 4 Table 7 Percentage ● the children living with non- relatives have a lower enrolment of children ever rate than the others – in all age-groups. enrolled and children ● For children aged 15-17, however, the ones living with other currently relatives have a higher enrolment rate than their peers (Table enrolled by age 7). group and who ●This can indicate that some children move from their parents to they are living relatives in order to attend school. together with (percent =’yes’) we investigate enrolment among children according to whether 4 Table 8 Percentage they have a birth certificate or not .In Haiti nearly all children (95 of children with percent) have birth certificates (Table 8) birth certificate by whom they are living with children living without parents and relatives more often do not 4 have a birth certificate than other children (14 percent). Among the children who have a birth certificate, 90 percent have 4 The sample size is too been enrolled (i.e. “ever enrolled”), while for those who do not small to make any have such a certificate 70 percent have been enrolled. analyses on the school attendance among children with no birth certificate living with non-relatives. 4 Completion of primary school One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is completion 4 of primary school. ● If children follow the educational schedule, they should finish their primary education when they are 12 years old. ●Among children aged 12-17, only 40 percent had obtained that 4 goal countrywide. ●Only 27 percent of Haitian children in the age group 12-14 have completed primary education. ●children aged 15-17 years, no matter who they live with, have a higher likelihood for having completed primary school than their younger peers.This indicates that a large amount of Haitian children either have started school late, or have failed repeatedly. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Only 54 percent of all Haitian children aged 15 to 17 have 4 Figure 10 completed primary education. As shown in Figure 10, somewhat Percentage of fewer children living with non-parents also in this age-group have children age 12 to 17 who have completed primary education. completed primary education by their living arrangement 4 School delay As indicated above, many Haitian children seem to be delayed in 4 Table 9 Delayed their schooling. When we take into account which level they schooling by should have obtained according to their age, as many as 77 age and living arrangements. percent of the children is delayed in their education (Table 9). Percentage that are delayed or have never attended school according to the school norm Even though it is high for all : 4 ●it is highest for the children above 10 years of age ●highest for children living with non-relatives. For the children 15-17 years of age : 4 ●there is no significant difference in delays between the children living with their parents, and those living with their relatives. ●another indication that children might move to relatives in order to attend school. 4 W orkload With reference to the legal frameworks discussed in Chapter 1 4 and enabling analysis according to different criteria for defining child domestic work and labour : ● we analyse children’s workloads with particular reference to the distinction of 14 hour per week for children aged less than 14 years (given that the work is carried out under acceptable conditions). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●We include domestic work in work hours in this case, and also include assessments of domestic workloads with respect to the 28-hour-per-week criterion. Nearly all Haitian children take part in domestic tasks in the 4 household, no matter whether they live with parents, relatives or non-relatives. The one exception is children below 11 years of age: 4 ●Table 10 Hours of ● one third of these young children are not reported as domestic performing domestic work if they live with their parents or with work/week for children living relatives. with parents, ●It is a relatively small share of the children in this age-group that other relatives live with non-relatives and ● however more than half of them do domestic work for more non-relatives by than 14 hours per week. age. ● as many as 24 percent of them do domestic work for more ●Figure 11 Hours of domestic than 28 hours per week (Table 10 and Figure 11). work/week for children living with parents, other relatives and non-relatives by age- groups For the children aged 12 years and above : 4 ● there are no remarkable differences between children living with parents, other relatives and non-relatives in the number of hours they do domestic work. ●However, approximately half of the children aged 12-17 work more than 14 hours a week with domestic tasks . ● one out five have more than 28 weekly hours of domestic work. 4 W ork quintiles We have ranked their weekly workload into five approximately 4 Table 11 Children's equally sized groups (quintiles) within age groups. weekly Table 11 gives an overview of the number of working hours in domestic workload, in each quintile in each age-group. approximate quintiles of hours worked by age For children aged 15 and above : 4 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●there are no differences in their workload according to who they live with. For the children aged 5 to 14 : 4 Figure 12 Workload ●the highest share of the children that work in the upper 5 in quintiles by quintile, are from the children living with non-relatives (Figure 12). living arrangement and age 4 Concluding remarks ●Twenty five percent of Haitian children 5-17 years of age live 4 separated from their parents.Most of these children live together with relatives, 21 percent, while the remaining four percent live with “strangers” (non-relatives). Fewer of the children living with strangers are currently attending school, and they have in general more domestic work than children living with parents or relatives. In Chapter 3, this information was used to define which children can be considered as child domestic workers ( CDW) a more thorough analysis of the living conditions of CDWs, 4 non-CDWs and children living with parents will be presented in Chapter 5. Living and working conditions, and experiences separateness ●In this chapter, we explore working and living conditions and 4 education in greater detail, and base our analyses on information that the children themselves provide. ● If nothing else is stated, all the statistical information in this chapter is thus based on interviews with children in the child questionnaire-part of the survey. We use the definition, or delineation, of child domestic workers 4 that is described in the last section of chapter 3 : ● compare child domestic workers with other children who live away from their parents (non-child domestic workers). ● and with children who live with one or both parents. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The aim of these analyses is to : 4 ● draw portraits of child domestic workers ● describe common features as well as variations among them. ● Another aim is to show what children themselves describe as particular difficulties. Gender and area: Recent changes among relocate children and child domestic workers As pointed out in chapter 3, child domestic work is related to age 4 and gender: ● the older children are nearly three times more likely to be child domestic workers than the younger ones. ● girls are more likely to be child domestic workers than boys. Consistent with the 2001 findings, there are no differences in the 4 proportions of child domestic workers of the child population between urban and rural areas. In the survey in 2001, we found that overall : 4 Table 12 ● 59 percent of the children classified as domestic child workers Distribution of were girls and 41 percent boys. child domestic workers ● The data from the current survey shows that the share of male according to and female domestic workers has remained unchanged (Table gender, place of 12). residence and year Another continuity is the gender distribution in rural areas, which 4 should be noted especially: ● Just as in 2001, the proportion of boys in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. This is most likely related to the differences in labour tasks in 4 (cf. Sommerfelt, urban and rural areas: ed., 2002: ●Tending animals is almost entirely a male task, and taking part in Chapter 4). agricultural work is far more common for boys than girls. ●A household need for the labour force of boys in agriculture may thus partly account for the higher proportion of boys in rural areas. In urban areas, there are changes in the gender distributions of 5 child domestic workers as compared to results of 2001: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● While in 2001 we found 72 percent girls among the urban CDWs, this share is reduced to 65 percent in 2014. ●The proportion of boy CDWs in the urban areas has increased accordingly, and the gender distribution of CDWs are thus becoming more equal in urban areas too. Concentrating on the 2014-figures, we have stated earlier that 25 5 percent of children in the age- group 5-17 live separately from their parents : ●These 25 percent include all children who live separately from their parents, also children who cannot be considered as child domestic workers. ●Among these “separated” children, there are differences between CDWs and non-CDWs in urban and rural areas and with respect to gender and age. As shown in Figure 13, more children live separately from their 5 parents in urban than in rural areas (30 vs 23 percent): ●In rural areas there is not a big difference between the genders in this respect. ● However, 12 percent of the rural boys are not CDWs even though they live separated from their parents, which is higher than for girls. Put differently, in the rural areas, girls who live away from their 5 parents more often are CDWs than boys. The highest share of child domestic workers is found among urban girls: Nearly one in five urban girls can be classified as a CDW. Looking into distributions according to gender and age : 5 see the second part ● the highest share of child domestic workers is found among of Figure 13 girls in the age-group 10-14. ●In this group too, nearly one out of five girls can be classified as a CDW. ●In the youngest age-group, 5-9 years of age, 20 percent of children live separately from their parents – but the proportion of CDWs among them is different for girls and boys. It is important to pay attention to the girls in this group, as half of 5 Figure 13 them are characterised as CDW. Percentage of The figure also brings out that the majority of CDWs are found in children living separated from the highest age group, 15-17 years of age, where the gender their parents by distribution is pretty similar. whether they work as child Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data domestic worker or not One of the reasons to include all children separated from their 5 parents in the assessment above is to : ● illuminate gender differences among children living away from parents more generally. ● Overall, girls who live away from their parents are more often than boys CDWs. This may mean that boys either live away from parents in order to 5 attend school, in arrangements of “paid board” (cf Sommerfelt, ed. 2002), or they do not pursue an education but do not have heavy domestic workloads either. Left behind or travelled? Child domestic work and th nature of connections to new homes As we have pointed out, 75 percent of children live with either 5 (cf. Chapter 4) one (31 percent) or both (44 percent) of their parents we describe in further detail the distribution of the remaining 25 5 (often with percent of children who live in households without a parent grandparents, present : cf. Figure 6). ●As many as seven percent are born in their current household, and they are thus left behind as parents migrate or they stay on in their parental household they when orphaned. ●Of the remaining 18 percent of the children who do not live with a parent. ● 11 percent say that they live with relatives or someone they know well. ● while seven percent say that they live with strangers or people they only knew “a little” before their move. Interestingly, among the children who remain living in their 5 original household without parents present, there is a gender bias: ●Girls are underrepresented in the rural areas, whereas boys are not. ● This indicates that boys are left behind when parents move away from their children’s households in the rural areas, whereas girls to a greater extent are brought along. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data boys’ labour input in agricultural work is highly valued and that 5 cf. Sommerfelt, ed, boys more often than girls participate in farm work 2002: Chapter 4 In the urban areas, more girls than boys live in households they 5 were not born into. In Chapter 3, we outline that the focus of the current study is : 5 ●child domestic labour in children’s non-parental households. ● delineated child domestic labour in accordance with this – defining CDWs for the purpose of the current study as children living in non-parental households and with higher workloads and delays in schooling. Here, it becomes evident that the lowest proportion of child 5 Table 14 domestic workers is found among the children who are living in Distribution of their original household without parents present (and who have child domestic workers by thus been left behind). living arrangements for Haitian children aged 5-17 Furthermore – and opposed to the common stereotype that child 5 Table 14 domestic workers live with unrelated strangers – the table below Distribution of shows that the highest proportion is found in the households of child domestic workers by relatives or with people the children knew well prior to their move living (58 percent). arrangements for Haitian children aged 5-17 among the children who move, about half can be defined as child 5 domestic workers in their new homes – regardless of whether they live with people they know well or not. Among the children who live away from their parents : 5 ● two thirds have both parents alive ● whereas 11 percent have lost both parents. This pattern is similar for the child domestic workers and the 5 Figure 15 Contact non-CDWs : with parents ●Most of the children, 85 percent, with at least one parent still among the 85 percent of the alive, stay in touch with their parent(s) (Figure 15). children with at ●Child domestic workers and non-CDWs thus report to have least one relatively similar frequency of contact with parents. parent alive Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 5 Education As we employ educational level as one of the criteria for 5 delineating child domestic labour, child domestic workers by definition have lower enrolment rates than non-child domestic workers. However, a further elaboration of the figures brings out how 5 educational performance varies with age, and in different living arrangements. School enrolment, attendance and access to scho material As noted, CDWs by definition have delayed schooling compared 5 Figure 16 to the norm: Percentage of ● Compared to both children living with parents and non-CDWs children currently living away from parents, the CDWs have a lower enrolment-rate enrolled in (Figure 16). school by age and child-status However, whereas the enrolment-rate for the children living with 5 their parents drops from age 10-14 to 15-17, the same is not the case for the two groups living away from their parents. This figure shows that non-CDWs who live away from their 5 parents have better school attendance than children who live with their parents in age group 15 to 17 years. As noted earlier too, this category of children include those who 5 live in arrangements of “paid board” (a pensyon in Creole): ●where they pursue an education and thus get better schooling than many kids who live with parents. ●In this sense, child placement for the purpose of education works for the older children. However, as compared with 2001, the difference in this regard 5 Table 15 School between children living with parents and non-CDWs who live enrolment by away from parents is not as pronounced: child status, comparing ●In 2001 it was found that more non-CDWs were currently survey data enrolled than those living together with their parents - in 2014 this from 2001 and difference only applies to older children (Table 15). 2014 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data A moderate improvement in school enrolment applies to child 5 Table 15 School domestic workers too : enrolment by ●whose current enrolment increase with age. child status, comparing ●However, child domestic workers have low enrolment rates in survey data their early age. from 2001 and ●On a positive note, their enrolment rates have improved in 2014 2014, as compared to 2001,the percentage of child domestic who have never attended school falling from 29 percent to 7 percent, for instance. ●These and other details are provided in Table 15. The table above shows that overall; 5 Table 15 School ● three out of four Haitian children are currently attending school. enrolment by This is similar to the level found in the 2001 survey. child status, comparing ● However, while in 2001 it was found that 16 percent of the survey data children never had attended school; from 2001 and ●in 2014 this was reduced to 6 percent that never had attended 2014 school (Table 15). Most remarkable is the reduction among the child domestic 5 workers that we mentioned above: ● While in 2001 29 percent of them had never attended school. ● in 2014, it was only 7 percent of the CDW that never had attended school. What school attendance is concerned: 5 Table 16 Percentage of ● the absolute majority of children go to morning school. the enrolled children ● The percentage of children attending day school is higher attending morning or day-school among the child domestic workers, but the difference is not remarkable (Table 16). ● It is assumed that Child domestic Workers attend evening schools – however, none of the children in our survey attended evening schools. most children struggle with access to textbooks, and some of 5 ●Table 17 Access to the other material that they need for school. text books for enrolled children ●Figure 17 Access to school material for enrolled children 5 Education and identity Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data the largest proportion of children who are not currently enrolled 5 (or have never been enrolled) are found among child domestic workers. ●As shown in Table 16, these figures are 32 percent (seven plus 25 percent) for child domestic workers (as against 40 in 2001. ● 24 percent for non-child domestic workers living away from their parents (as against 14 percent in 2001). ● 23 percent for children living with their parents (as against 21 percent in 2001). Moreover, educational aspirations are a motive behind children’s 5 cf. Boyden 2013 voluntary migration in many developing countries Despite structural disincentives for enrolment and success within 5 the Haitian education system (Lunde 2008), parents go a long way to ensure their children an education. In addition to providing opportunities for employment, the 5 socialising effect of education on children is also regarded as important. ●“Children out of school are lost in a jungle”, one of Lunde’s 5 respondents told her in 2008, and continued to say that: “They are a menace to society”. ●Thus, schooling provides children with knowledge, and also integrates children among a group of “school children”, rather than among the “drifting” children, or the “vagabonds”, who are not in school. Putting such a strong stigma on not being in school is likely to 5 provide parents with a strong incentive towards enrolling their children when the possibility is there (Lunde 2008). ●At the same time, many adults and children alike regard 5 cf. Sommerfelt et al. migration, even without prospects of schooling, as a better 2002a: 66ff. option than “drifting” and “vagabondisme” in rural communities. ● This applies to boys especially, for whom working in households away from home, it is hoped, may provide informal training (formasyon) in a craft, and experience with the ways of the urban world. Younger children too are remarkably concerned with education; 5 ● they portray it as an aspect of personal fortune and sense of self and they go to much trouble in order to cover educational expenses. During fieldwork in 2001 : 5 cf. Sommerfelt, ed, Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●many children as well as adults portrayed informal learning of 2002: 60ff life skills (formasyon) as important. During fieldwork in 2014, the emphasis had shifted: 5 ●though informal training is still described as a resource, adults as well as children underlined that formal education is a prerequisite for success (albeit an insufficient one), and this emphasis was more striking than in 2001. In Carrefour Feuilles near Port-au-Prince, we met Maria in 5 September 2014, whose story is recounted below: ●Maria is a girl of 15 who has lived with an aunt since the earthquake in 2010. She was ten years old when the earthquake hit. ●she was living in Cap Haitien with an older cousin, whom she had lived with since her mother died. ●Maria has done two years of schooling earlier. ●Her aunt wants to go back to live in a rural area (an provens) but Maria does not want to go with her because she would not be able to go to school there. Maria hopes a local NGO will help her go to school. ●she repeats that she does not want to go outside of Port-au-Prince, even if it has a school,as the water there will give her “spots” on my skin”, is a commonly held view. ●Maria finds money to pay the bus fare, five Gourdes each way. She manages to find the money to go, gets it from her aunt of from others she knows. Near Jacmel, we met a 17-year-old boy: 5 ● Joseph comes from Belle Anse, a town in a very arid part of the South East which often suffers from food insecurity. His father died when he was young and his mother went to the Dominican Republic in 2010. He is one of five children. One of his sisters (of the same mother) lives in Cayes Jacmel with her father. Another sibling lives in Port-au-Prince with an aunt, and two are with his mother in the Dominican Republic. ●Joseph has not gone back to school yet this year. He was in the third year of primary school last year, a class supposed to be for eight to nine-year-olds. He has been paying his own school fees, helped by his mother who sends some money from time to time. When he left Belle Anse, he had only completed his first school year, and was thus seriously delayed. In the four years that had passed since then, he has completed two years of schooling. ●He needs to buy trousers for 400 Gourdes, 1 000 Gourdes for the material for two shirts plus 300 Gourdes to get them made, Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data as well as the cost of shoes. His school costs 3 000 Gourdes, of which he only has to pay half at the beginning. Enterprising, education-seeking children In many of the conversations we had with children who live in 5 servant-like positions, both children going to school and not, a recurrent theme was the ways in which children search for tiny incomes in order to improve their opportunities. They also do so in order to cover small needs in daily life. We met with another young man of 20 years in Jacmel who had 5 been more successful in staying in school than Joseph, thanks to his own work input and personal connections. ● Gregory has not lived with his mother since he was two months old. Since his father died in 1999 he has lived in five different households, until now, when he rents his own room. ●he has managed to build up a small pot of money from the help 6 from relatives abroad, and has bought a motor cycle. ●All along, he has used his incomes and personal networks in order to pay school fees and expenses. ●Throughout the years, he says has missed out on two years of schooling only: ● in 2007 to 2008 when he did not manage to pass his exams, and when one of the relatives who used to help him went abroad, in 2012 to 2013. ● In 2013, he could not pass his ninth and final year of basic education (the “Brevet”), as the Ministry of education ended up not recognising (accepting) the school that Gregory had paid so much to go to. Now, at the age of 20, he will sit for the Brevet and thus complete his basic cycle (the ninth year). Gregory’s relative success is a result of assistance – his social 6 network materialising in the form of economic support. Volatility is a fact of life for all of these children, opportunities changing rapidly when caretakers fall ill or another crisis hits. In these situations, children work hard to change their opportunities for the better. Given the cultural importance of formal education, not being able 6 to go to school in a home where other children do, is Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data experienced by children as a form of exclusion in broader terms – emotionally and socially. This aspect of the educational complex is significant regardless 6 Lunde et al 2014: of whether child domestic workers’ access to education is 178 improving or not – in statistical terms. Interestingly, however, and as is shown in Chapter Six of the tabulation report : ● the factor that has the highest [reported] impact on the children’s [emotional] well-being in the … [survey] is whether the child is enrolled in school or not . ●Children who are not enrolled in school generally feel more lonely, unhappy and unloved than enrolled children, regardless of domesticity status 6 W orking conditions ●As shown in Figure 18, more child domestic workers than 6 Figure 18 non-CDWs do household tasks. Household ●It is important to remark, however, that overall, there are no tasks done daily, child activities that are performed exclusively by child domestic domestic workers. workers compared to other children, age 5 to 17 Even though no activities are performed exclusively by child 6 domestic workers, the distribution of tasks individual households may give a different perspective.Many children explain that they take over some tasks when they move to a new household, and become the only ones to perform them. They associate this with their servant position, especially the task of throwing out the contents of the night buckets when the morning comes.Many children explain that they take over some tasks when they move to a new household, and become the only ones to perform them. They associate this with their servant position, especially the task of throwing out the contents of the night buckets when the morning comes. As can be seen in Chapter 3 of the Tabulation Report (Lunde et 6 al 2014), more than half of child domestic workers are daily involved in: ● collecting and transporting water, washing dishes, sweeping the compound, running errands and making fire in the morning. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data If we control for children’s age, as is done in Figure 19: 6 Figure 19 Domestic ● we see that even in the same age group, it is a higher tasks performed proportion of child domestic workers that perform domestic daily by domestic-and tasks. non-CDW not ● It is worth pointing out that the two groups of children that live living with separately from their parents have a very different workload, and parents and child domestic workers do considerably more of all tasks than children living other children. with parents by age Male child domestic workers do more of the outdoor activities, 6 such as carrying firewood, tending animals and agricultural activities. The tasks of female child domestic workers are to a higher degree tied to the house, typically involves preparing food products and meals, washing dishes and sweeping the compound Most children do some kind of domestic tasks, no matter with 6 whom they live. As Figure 20 shows: ●around 80 percent of children aged 5 to 17 do domestic tasks both on weekdays and in weekends. ● There is a tendency that children do some more work on Saturdays than on the other weekdays. On Saturdays there is also a higher share that works many hours: ● 14 percent of all the children worked more than 6 hours the last Saturday. ● while only 5 percent had such a large workload last weekday, and 3 percent last Sunday. ● It is not possible to point out clear differences in the workload by the living-arrangement for children. However, a somewhat higher share of the children living away from the household they were born into, work more hours during weekdays than the other children: 25 percent versus 18 percent. It is not only the total number of hours that are important in 6 Table 18 assessing the working conditions for children. Percentage of ● Another aspect is working hours. Fifteen percent of all children that always, Haitian children work after 8 pm in the evening and before 6 pm sometimes or in the morning (14 percent “sometimes” and 1 percent “always”). never work ●There is a small tendency that children living together after 8 pm and with one or both parents work somewhat less during the before 6 am by night-time than children living together in a non-parental living status household (Table 18). Note that twenty-seven percent of the and CDW status Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data child domestic workers work during night-time. This is more than twice as many as the non-CDWs. ●Very few children (4 percent) are given compensation in form of 6 money for their work. ● As shown in Figure 22, an equal amount of the child domestic workers (3.3 percent) and the non-CDWs (2.5 percent) get compensation, as the children living with their parents (3.9 percent). ● Thus, the living arrangement does not seem to influence whether or not children receive payment. As regards hazardous work, our statistical material does not 6 Figure 23 Percentage show systematic differences between different categories of of the children that use children dangerous objects and hazardous substances during their work in the house With respect to work-related injuries: 6 ●half of all children report that they have experienced injuries while doing domestic work. ●The two main injuries reported are cut-injuries and having been burnt. As indicated in Figure 24, the child domestic workers and the 6 Figure 24 Percent of non-CDWs follow the same pattern in this respect, but with a children that have tendency that there are some more child domestic workers who experienced injuries during domestic works have experienced any injury (57 versus 50 percent) and have received cuts during work (50 versus 41 percent). In addition, some rare cases of broken limbs, eye injuries, 6 infected wounds, head injuries and other injuries are reported. However, our sample is too small to give any indication of how frequent these injuries are, as only 1 to 5 individuals out of all child respondents have reported any of these kinds of injuries. Domestic tasks do not seem to influence on school work to the 6 Figure 25 Percentage extent that it shows in statistical terms. The only exception is of enrolled children that late-coming to class, where child domestic workers are slightly have dropped homework, been over- represented. absent from school or been late for class due to work to do at home In terms of being too tired to follow instructions in class, no 6 Table 19 Being too significant differences can be registered (note however that this tired to follow classes only regards children who are enrolled to school). due to work at home for enrolled children Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 6 Health The survey material does not reflect differences between child 6 Figure 26 Percent of domestic workers and other children in terms of exposure to children suffering from illness and injuries (Figure 26). different health problems Differences in medical treatment are so marginal that it is difficult 6 Table 20 Been to to draw definitive conclusions hospital or seen a health worker past 12 months In the child questionnaire for the survey, we also included a 6 psychological mood and feelings self- assessment : ● The self-assessment screened for depression among children and adolescents from the age of eight (along the lines of Angold et al. 1995) ●The tabulation report includes some selected tables on mental health (see tables 6.9 to 6.14 in Lunde et al 2014). The tables are a part of a larger set of questions that together 6 Figure 27 Depression make up a depression index. index: Percentage of children 8-17 years of age that said it was true or sometimes true that they had these feelings last two weeks Differences in medical treatment are so marginal that it is difficult 6 Table 20 Been to to draw definitive conclusions hospital or seen a health worker past 12 months In the child questionnaire for the survey, we also included a 6 psychological mood and feelings self- assessment.The self-assessment screened for depression among children and adolescents from the age of eight (along the lines of Angold et al. 1995). ●The tabulation report includes some selected tables on mental 6 see tables 6.9 to 6.14 health. in Lunde et al 2014) ●The tables are a part of a larger set of questions that together ●Figure 27 Depression index: Percentage of make up a depression index. children 8-17 years of age that said it was true or sometimes true that they had these feelings last two weeks Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data What is evident from the individual tables in the tabulation report 6 is that : ● there are no large differences in the reported moods and feelings the last two weeks before the survey between child domestic workers and other children. ● As noted, the factor that has the highest impact on the children’s well-being in the selected tables is whether the child is enrolled in school or not. ● There is also a tendency that girls are more troubled with difficult moods and feelings than boys, and older children more than younger children. As Figure 28 shows, distributions of children on the different 6 Figure 28 levels of the depression index, from high to low, is not Percentage on significantly different between children who live with parents, each level of the depression child domestic workers and non-CDWs who live away from index parents. If we disregard the distinction between child domestic workers 6 20 All the handicaps and non-CDWs, and focus on children’s living arrangements, we are as reported by the find that one out of twenty children (five percent) in the age- household head – no medical examinations group five to 18 has a handicap20 (see Table 21) have been carried out during this survey. As it appears from this, the data on this variable are based on the roster data and not on direct response from children. ●The most frequent handicap is intellectual. 6 Table 21 Prevalence of ● There is a tendency that parents to a very little extent will send handicap among their handicapped children to other relatives. children under 18 years of age by living status ●Relatively few children with an intellectual handicap are found among the children living with other relatives. ● As we will come back to later, many of the children living with other relatives do that for educational purposes. 6 Social conditions In the child questionnaire of the survey : 6 ● a range of questions intended to uncover children’s different limitations, privileges, resources and treatment in households were included. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●For the most part, no marked differences between the different categories of children can be drawn based on this data. Therefore, the discussion is complemented by qualitative data. Privileges and restrictions: Media access, clothing an freedom to leave the house ●Nearly none of the children that were included in the survey 6 Figure 29 Access to sample reported to have access to internet. media by living ●Roughly one third have regular access to radio, TV and status telephone. ●Compared to what we witnessed during ethnographic fieldwork in Haiti in 2001, many children living in new homes stayed in regular contact with their parents via mobile phones. Child domestic workers are slightly less likely to go to church 6 Table 22 with other family members. Percentage of children going to church When they go, they are slightly less likely to wear special 6 clothes, but the differences are so minimal that it is not possible to draw dramatic conclusions based on the survey data. As Lunde et al point out in the tabulation report (2014: Chapter 7 Figure 31 Children 5), data show that overall : allowed leaving ●child domestic workers are more frequently allowed to leave the house alone by living status the house alone, both for duties and for own purposes, than and age other children. Much of the explanation for this is, however, is that the child domestic workers on average are older than other children. ●girl child domestic workers are less likely to be allowed to leave the house for own purposes than child domestic workers who are boys. Experiences of care: Punishment, commensality an social inclusion In the survey data, there are no marked differences in the 7 frequency of punishment: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● The difference that is there, though small, indicates that child domestic workers receive less punishment than do other children. Approximately 10 percent of all children, child domestic workers 7 see tabulation included, report to have received verbal reprimand. Interestingly, report, Lunde et verbal reprimand is the type of punishment that parents who want al 2014: Chapter 7 to send their children to live in another household find least acceptable. According to these parents, verbal reprimand and/or insulting is unacceptable, while 81 percent accept that members of the new household whip their children ●In spite of small or no significant differences between child 7 Figure 32 domestic workers and non-child domestic workers with respect Percentage of to punishment, also reflected in the findings from 2001 all children that have been (Sommerfelt et al. 2002). punished in ●children’s statements during our informal conversations with different ways them indicate that punishment reproduces child domestic last 30 days workers’ feeling of being outsiders. ●In informal interviews, children who talked about difficult circumstances during stays as domestic workers often focused on the issue of being beaten and punished. ● By punishment in this context, they also referred to scolding, being put to tasks they did not want to perform or that they found disgusting. This feeling of separateness is a vague notion in the sense that it 7 is practically impossible to capture by way of asking questions in a standardised interview. However, notions of separateness come out clearly in conversations with child domestic workers, and especially clearly in the context of meals, and how and by whom they are served meals. Some child domestic workers are not allowed to eat at the same table as other people of the house they live in, or they have to eat after the other residents have finished their meal. Nathalie 7 ●We meet Nathalie in Port-au-Prince, where she attends a day centre for children who live under difficult circumstances. ●There are three other children (aged nine, five and two years) in the house. ●Nathalie tells she is suffering (map pase mizè) in the house of her Godsister. She says that her Godsister “doesn’t give me anything”. Nathalie sweeps the floors and does the washing up. The God Sister gives clothes to her children but not to her, in spite of her selling second hand clothing, Nathalie remarks. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Moreover, a feeling expressed by many child domestic workers 7 is that their employers, or caretakers, do not worry about their well-being and do not care about their material survival. Nearly four out of five Haitian children (78 percent) do eat 7 together with other members of the households they live in. However, there is a remarkable difference between the children living with their parents, and the other children. As shown in Figure 33 : 7 Figure 33 Percent ● children living with their parents eat more frequently together of the children with the rest of the household than the other children do. that usually eat together with ● Only half of the female child domestic workers in urban areas other members (53 percent) eat with the rest of the households. of the ● The mean number of meals does however not vary between household by the groups, the mean number of meals for all the groups were 2. living status, area and gender Another aspect of treatment on households is children’s sleep 7 ●Figure 34 When and sleeping facilities: children rise in ●However, the survey results show only small differences, too the morning and where they small to be significant (Figure 34 and Figure sleep 35), between child domestic workers and other children. ●Figure 35 Kind of bed children sleep on 7 The bad end: Being set aside Among the children that do not live together with their original 7 parents: ● 10 percent think they are worse treated than the other children in the household (12 percent of the child domestic workers and 8 percent among the others). This question is only answered by the children that live separated from their parents. ● For the children not defined as child domestic workers, 17 percent feel they are better treated than other children in the household, while this is the case for six percent of the child domestic workers (Table 24). ●Though there are a difference among child domestic workers 7 and non-child domestic workers who live away from parents with respect to the feeling of being treated better, then, we cannot say that a majority of child domestic workers feel that they are treated worse. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● This is, moreover, an aspect the constitution of the “bad end” of the continuum of cases of child domestic labour, and these cases differ from those situations in which children experience the stay or employment in a new home as an acceptable way to improve their opportunities. ●Thus, this is not an issue of describing the majority situation, but rather, how worst cases are experienced. In this context, the account given by one of the urban girls we talked with is illustrative. Joane 7 ●Joane is 14 years old. Her mother lives in a rural area. ● She went to school from the age of six to eight and she reached the third year of primary school. She thus started school on time but dropped out before coming to Port-au-Prince. “I’d like to go to school”, she says, ‘but [if I don’t] when I’m bigger I’ll sell things in the market”. ● In her current home, Joane says, “I do a lot of work: I wash up, and wash clothes, I cook”. Sometimes she is allowed to play with other children, but not when she has got work to do. “I cry when I see them go to school because I can’t go”, she says. ● She tells that sometimes, she is beaten for a long time (san rete). “She treats me badly” (mizè l fe m pase). When we ask why she is beaten, Joane answers, “because I’m not herchild”. And to illustrate, she adds: “I’m hungry and they don’t give me food”. The family eats, she says, but they do not give her proper meals. In the morning they have coffee and bread, and later they buy fritay (street food) to eat. “If I ask for five Gourdes, she [the old woman] says she hasn’t got it. It’s when I do the washing up that I will find something to eat from what they leave behind. She mentions that she sleeps on a sheet on the floor and that the others have beds. A continuum of domestic work arrangements, an children’s movements along it ●Children’s experiences of being treated differently are also 7 shaped by their own comparisons with their opportunities back in their original homes. ●Some children express that a difference of privilege in degree between children in a house. ●One of the cases that leads us to this description of the diversity of child domestic worker arrangements includes a boy Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data we call Joel (below). We met him in his home in one of the refugee camps that still existed in Port-au-Prince in September 2014. We also met the couple who was his caretaker. They all lived in a small house (so-called “T-shelter”). Joel is a nephew of the wife of the family. ●Joel is 10 years old, and attends school. He is currently in the 5th year of primary school, and is on track with his education. He lives in the house of his aunt and her husband, a couple in their forties. They have two children of their own, the youngest a boy of 10 years who is also in his fifth year. ●Joel has been with the couple for three years. Before joining the family he had reached the third year of primary school. According to the aunt, the boy’s father never took responsibility for him and his mother is not working. ●It was difficult for us to check Joel’s workload, but his situation came across as a regular case of informal fostering. Many children we met had experienced the kind of delay that 7 was threatening Joel, due to parents’ inability to pay school fees. In some of these cases, their taking up domestic duties in a new home did not entail denigration as in the bad cases accounted for above, but enabled them to take up schooling again, although they were now delayed in their education. In the steep hills above Port-au-Prince, in an area called 7 Phillipeau, we visit the house of Marjorie. Marjorie, Lisa and Immacula ● Marjorie has four adult children who all live with her – three boys and a girl (26-year old Immacula). Additionally, Marjorie’s Goddaughter, Lisa, moved to Marjorie three years ago, from Jeremie, and is now 18 years old. She is the niece of Marjorie’s late husband. ● Lisa’s own father died three months ago. Her mother is alive, but has had 10 children, out of whom two have died. ● When Lisa first arrived to Philippeau she attended a local private school, for two years. Marjorie then found a place for her in a state secondary school (lycee), where she has done three years now. She is in the 10th grade, and as an 18-year-old, this implies that she is two years behind in her education. This is less of a delay in schooling than Immacula, her 26-year-old daughter, who is nine years behind at present. Immacula has recently taken her exam for “Rheto” again (the second of three years of the Baccaleureat), for the second time. When Immacula was 18 years old, she was in the ninth grade, thus delayed in schooling with three years. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Marjorie works as a maid. Consequently, she is away at work most days, and many nights too. In effect, there is a heavy workload falling on Lisa, Immacula and the three sons. All children in the house participate in the housework, says Marjorie, with no distinctions. Wilbert fetches water, a heavy job considering the distance from the pump and up the hillside. If Immacula doesn’t do the cooking, then Lisa does it, then the youngest of the sons. ● The workloads of both Lisa and Immacula when they return from school are rather high – as no other adult is present in the daytime. They have to do housework for several hours a day, and turn to homework when the housework is done. ●When Immacula was younger, she and her three brothers all lived in Jeremie. In fact, Marjorie placed them in the house of Lisa’s mother and father. They stayed there for four years, while Marjorie was working to pay for the plot of land she now owns, and to build the house she currently lives in. The fact that Marjorie does not have to pay rent, but owns her own house, is the reason why she can afford to pay for the kids schooling, she explains. This was when Immacula was 10 to 13 years old. ●When Immacula was in Jeremie, she went to poorer schools, she says. Also, at one point, a relative of Lisa’s father (Immacula’s caretaker at the time), claimed that Immacula was too young to go into the class she was supposed to enter. He made her repeat a class: he “held her back”.Marjorie says, in her presence, that while she was living away from her in Jeremie, Immacula used to complain that she was the only one in the house who used to to the laundry. They laugh about this when we talk – and Immacula says that there was work to do, but they had a water pump in the yard so the load was not too heavy. The example of Lisa and Immacula exposes some of the 7 experiences behind cases that would most likely be considered child domestic service, especially in Lisa’s case during the last three years: ●Moreover, the case shows the way in which domestic labour is a process of transitions for many children, a matter of slipping in and slipping out of work and education. ●the case of Immacula and Lisa resembles the stories of Gregory and Joseph presented earlier in this chapter, who slipped in and out of education in a similar manner, the difference being that they had to pay for their own schooling and Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data that their interruptions were caused by their own income-generating activities. 7 Conclusions ●Child domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation. At the 7 same time, they actively try to improve their opportunities, some successfully, others not. ●The different patterns in the living and working conditions of child domestic workers depicted in this chapter, and their different experiences, convey a point we have emphasised earlier: rather than a lack of personal independence, the nature of children’s social relationships, inclusion and exclusion better portrays the specific nature of individual child domestic labour arrangements. ●Agency” in this setting is defined by the relational dynamics of children’s multiple social attachments, rather than the degree of freedom to act independently. ●The extent and limitations of children’s social networks affect their opportunity situations and shape feelings of self-worth. In the next chapter, we turn to explorations of the households that send and receive child domestic workers, and the processes by which arrangements of domestic service come about. 6 Profiles of original homes and employment household – and paths in-between Tone Sommerfelt and Anne Hatløy 8 In this chapter we direct attention to households that children come from and go to. ●We compare households that have sent children away to live elsewhere, households that are the homes of non-biological children and homes that only include children born into the household. ● In addition to exploring the demographic characteristics of these households, we assess attitudes towards child relocation and child domestic work. ● In the last part of the chapter, we explore the paths between households that send and receive children in relocation and work arrangements, by focusing on the circumstances around Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data children’s movements and the processes by which children change homes. In order to analyse the living conditions of children who have 8 (cf. section on moved into new households, the survey methodology for this research study was designed to obtain as many “receiving” households as methodology possible There are also households in the sample that has sent their 8 21.Among the children away to live elsewhere. However, the research design responding does not allow us to quantify how many receiving and how many households, 40 were both senders and sending households there are, as the number of sending receivers of children as households is too low. Even so, the sample enables us to look they had both received into some different characteristics of these households. children and some of their own children have left the household. These 40 households have been excluded from the analyses of the quantitative material that follow because they are too few to generalise from. We do discuss this situation based on qualitative material, however. In addition, we complement the quantitative survey material with 8 information from parents as well as former and present caretakers, and thus employers, of children who can be considered child domestic workers. Sending and receiving households: Some gener characteristics ●According to our figures, the average household size in Haiti is 8 4.9 persons. ● In households that have received children in different relocation arrangements, the mean household size is nearly one member more, 5.8. As shown in Figure 36, these households have a much higher 8 Figure 36 Household proportion of eight or more household members than any of the size by children under 18 that have moved Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data other households. These households are larger, obviously, as a into the HH (receiving) result of children having moved to them, but they are larger than or left the HH (sending) the increase of children to them can account for. This may indicate a higher demand for household work in receiving households ●Households that do not contain children are by far the smallest. 8 The households where children have left to live elsewhere have a mean size of 4.7 persons. ● It seems to be a commonly held view in Haiti (also among NGO representatives) that households that send children away to live elsewhere are generally larger than other households. In our material, however, there is nothing that indicates that it is the larger households that send some of their children away. Based on information from children in the child questionnaire: 8 ● the households of child domestic workers and non-child domestic workers (who live separately from parents) have some different characteristics. ● The child domestic workers come from households with more children than the non-CDWs (living away from parents). ●Once again, this shows that children who are sent away for the primary purpose of pursuing their education, but also may conduct household work within the limits of the “permissible”, come from smaller households than the children that live as child domestic workers. Also, the non-CDWs (living away from parents) come from 8 households with higher education among the household heads that the child domestic workers. Figure 36 Household size by children under 18 that have moved 8 into the HH (receiving) or left the HH (sending). ●Household Members: receiving (n=976),sending (n=86),only on chd (n = 713 ),no children (n=263) Figure 37 Situation in household where children were born. 8 Left: percentage of household heads that were literate and percent hindered in their work due to handicap. Right: number of adults and children in the household of origin ●Literacy of HH head in HH of origin : CDW (n = 460 ), Non CDW not with parents ( n= 400). Figure 38 Age and gender of household head in the households 8 that have received children or sent children away: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Gender household head :Receiving ( n= 976 ),sending ( n =86),only on chd ( n =713),no children (n= 263). Age household head : Receiving ( n= 976 ),sending ( n =86),only on chd ( n =713),no children (n= 263). ● Households that have sent children away are equally female 8 and male headed. ●This is in contrast to the households that have received children – this group has the highest share of female headed households. Almost none of these sending households have old household heads (Figure 38). Figure 39 Literacy of household head in the households that 8 have received children or sent children away. Literacy of household head:Receiving (n= 968),sending ( n=82)only own chd ( n =708),no children (n= 261). There are no particular differences in the level of literacy in 8 French and/or Creole among the different groups of households (Figure 46). ●Most of the households that have sent their children away are 8 Figure 40 Area and located in rural areas, while the receiving households are found region where both in urban and rural areas. the households are located by ●In all regions there are households receiving children and other households that households sending their children away. It is a small tendency have received that in the “Transversal” (The North-East, ) area there is a higher children or sent level of child mobility; households here have a higher likelihood children away both of receiving children and sending children away than in the other regions (Figure 40). Figure 40 Area and region where the households are located by 8 households that have received children or sent children away : Area : Receiving ( n= 976 ),sending only own chd (n = 713 ),no children (n=263). Region :Receiving ( n= 976 ),sending only own chd (n = 713 ) no children (n=263). Child relocation and domestic work: A matter attitudes? ●Most of the adult respondents find it not desirable for children 8 to be placed in other households for doing unpaid or paid Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data agricultural work and domestic work. This is found desirable for neither children under the age of 18 nor children under 14 (Figure 41). ●The placement in homes of relatives or godmothers/godfathers is found “not desirable” for 50 to 60 percent of therespondents The least problematic is to place children for apprenticeships. 8 However, attitudes in the latter respect vary considerably with 8 children’s age: ● 49 percent of respondents report that they find it inacceptable to place children under 14 years for apprenticeship. ● while 27 percent state that children under 18 should not been placed for apprenticeship. Figure 41 Percentage of adults that find different forms of 84 placement of children as NOT desirable for children under the age of 14 and 18. ●Whether a household contains only biological children, whether it contains children unaccompanied by parents (receiving household. ●whether one or more of their own children has left before the age of 18 during the last five years (sending household). ●the overall picture of what is considered acceptable and inacceptable is relatively similar (Figure 42). However, the sending households are somewhat less sceptical 84 to sending children under the age of 14 away for unpaid domestic and unpaid agricultural work than other households. Figure 42 Percentage of adults that find different forms of 85 placement of children as NOT desirable for children under the age of 14 by status of children in the household: ● Parents do not distinguish between their sons and daughters with respect to the purpose of sending children to live and/or work in new homes. As shown in Figure 43: 8 Figure 43 Percent ●nearly none of the parents want to send their children to other of parents that households to do unpaid domestic or agricultural work. would NOT encourage own ●They are also very sceptical to sending them for these activities sons and even if the children receive payment or an education (in addition daughters to to working). live under certain conditions (UnWn=711 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data adults with own children in the household) However, most parents accept sending their children to 8 households “in pension” (a pensyon in Creole) arrangements, i.e. where parents pay for children’s schooling and expenses while they live in a home closer to their school, or in a household for apprenticeship Among all the parents that were asked: 8 ● five percent said they would encourage their own children to live in another household, regardless of purpose. ●Another 24 percent said that they would do so under certain conditions. As shown in Figure 44, the poorest households - and 8 Figure 44 households the lowest education of household heads – are Percentage of much more willing to send their children to other households than adults with own children that the more wealthy households and the households whose encourage their household heads have higher education. children to live ●parents from rural areas are more willing to send their children in another to other households than the urban ones: household by ●While 40 percent of the parents from the Transversal region are household willing to relocate their children, this is the case for 18 percent of wealth, education of the parents in Northern region. HH head, area and region (UnWn=1043) Figure 44 Percentage of adults with own children that encourage 8 their children to live in another household by household wealth, education of HH head, area and region (UnWn=1043) ● wealth ●Education of HH head ●area ●region The finding shown in Figure 44, as well as the minor variations 8 between sending and receiving households that were shown Figure 42, indicate that to send children away is not necessarily a matter of attitudes, but of economic adaptations to economic circumstances, that vary according to household wealth, or that varies in different life phases. Other survey data strengthens this impression, as does the qualitative material. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Inequality, economic adaptations and the death of parent Looking at the wealth of the households, 8 ● nearly none of the households that have sent children away to live elsewhere are defined in the rich third on the wealth index. ●In the households that have received children, on the other hand, only 26 percent are in the poor third. ●Thus, there is a tendency that the better-off receive children, whereas the poorer households have a higher likelihood of sending their children away. Figure 46 Wealth in the household that have received children or 8 sent children away These findings support the interpretation that parents adjust to 8 difficult economic circumstances by circulating children for periods of time : ●This also entails that parents cannot necessarily be distinguished categorically on the basis of whether they defend, or do not defend, the placement of children in arrangements of child domestic work: ●Many parents send of children during some phases of difficulty and following crises, and when times become easier, they “assist” other parents by providing upkeep for their children. They may benefit from the children’s labour in return. ● Or, people struggle in some phases, and actively look for children as extra hands when times turn and they are in need of extra labour input in the household. Moreover, many parents are thus both receivers and senders of child domestic workers during their life course. ●only 40 households in the survey material were registered as 8 both senders and receivers of children. ●the question asked in the survey was whether parents had sent children away during the last five years. ●During the qualitative interviews, we met many parents who had sent away children during difficult phases, only to collect them some years later. ●Eventually, they “returned the favour” to the same family by caring for their children in a position to receive children later. Marjorie, whose case we introduced in Chapter 5, is one example. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Marjorie placements of children and longer-ter planning of household economy Marjoire’s Goddaughter Lisa was living with Marjorie in 8 Phillipeau, along with Marjorie’s four children. Lisa took part in housework in Marjorie’s house, and went to school in Port-au-Prince. Years earlier, however, Marjorie had sent her own four children to 8 live with Lisa’s parents in Jeremie. Lisa’s parents were not well-off, but they did not have the same burden of support for children at the time as Marjoire. When their children left for Jeremie, Marjorie’s husband lived in The Dominican Republic, and worked in a factory where he made bricks for construction. Marjorie herself did not have a regular job, and she was renting the house that they lived in. As many others, she was paying rent every six months. When one of the six- month payments was approaching, she understood that she needed relief of expenses for the upkeep of her children. ●The children moved to him and his wife in Jeremie, and stayed 8 there for four years. Marjorie says that she used to send money to contribute to the children’s upkeep when she could, but often she could not. ●Soon after the children’s departure, Marjorie managed to find a regular job, and she has had regular jobs as a maid ever since. ●As a maid, Marjorie slept in the house of her employers, and thus, could not care for her children. At the same time, Marjorie decided to keep the children in Jeremie in order to build up capital to buy a plot of land. ●As soon as she had enough money and an appropriate piece of land was available, she did. When the first room was ready and roofed, four years after the children. had moved to Jeremie, she brought the children back to her, and 9 put them in school in Port- au-Prince.Marjorie’s husband sustained a serious injury in the factory in The Dominican Republic. Her returned to his wife in Haiti, but did not survive. Marjorie still insisted on bringing her children back home from Jeremie. Even with the loss of her husband’s income, her economic situation was now much easier, as she could live without the burden of paying rent. The fact that Marjorie does not Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data have to pay rent, but owns her own house, she explains, is the reason why she can afford to pay for her children’s schooling, and for the schooling of her Goddaughter. She has now extended the house with additional rooms. Payment of rent yearly or every six months appears as a 9 particularly critical time for people, and it is a recurrent topic in parents’ stories about decisions to place their children temporarily in the homes of others. It should be noted that households both receiving children in 9 as indicated in a study work arrangements, and sending children away in other phases, by Pierre et al 2009: 9 is not unique, and it is not a new finding An economic shock that affects parents in the rural area is failing 9 crops following drought or flooding. In the mountains in the South-East department, we spoke with farmers who saw no alternative than to send their children away, eyes open to the fact that children were placed in difficult situations. Desperation: Parents acceptance, encouragements, a children’s own initiatives ●In September 2014, we talked with Claude, a farmer of about 9 60 years. He lived in a community at an altitude of more than 1800 meter above sea level in the commune of Marigot. The area is moist and rocky, and agricultural fields stretch out in all directions. Due to the altitude and constant mist, people in this area usually expect rains or dew from January to late autumn. However, the area had experienced drought from January 2014 and therefore increased sun-exposure, further aggravating the drought. ●Claude has been active in establishing initiatives for youth in the area, and started community school nearby. He is a respected elder in the community, and is described by others we meet as a person people turn to for help. ●Claude says that this year has been particularly hard for parents, due to the drought the past six months: “Normally, we can send kids to school from the [money from the sale of] harvest, but now, with the drought and too much sun, it is not possible”. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Farmers are on their second round of carrots and spring onions 9 when we speak with Claude – as their entire first round was destroyed. But even the second round does not grow properly. Claude points to small plants of (second round) spring onions that should have been large, harvestable, plants now. He is afraid that all of their investments from two rounds of planting will be lost. And worse, people will not have food to eat, says Claude. As we walk into the small yard of his house, we meet several 9 women residents. They fill in, and emphasise that the drought, added to it the loss of a parent, is a usual reason for sending kids away: “For some kids, their fathers die or leave, and then their mothers cannot take care of them”. Many do become restavek”, they say, and explain that: “People here suffer! When the sun is hot they eat snails and lizards raw, to stop the feeling of hunger. This is bad! It’s worse here than in town. Here, they don’t get even a single [hot] meal. The children who stay [behind] here, who don’t go as restavek, they suffer more!”. ●Some kids go to Port-au-Prince, they say, and sleep in the 9 public market places. They spend the night under the empty market tables. One of the women we speak with says that she to sleeps in the market place when she goes to Petionville. ●She adds: “The sadness of the kids who sleep in the market places is that they watch other children who have a better time. So they are not happy. Even if the street kids see others who are better off, they don’t return here, because life here is too bad. They hope for a better life [in town]. They sell water. They are often 10 to 12 years old when they go to town”. ●We speak with a middle-aged woman, the sister of Claude’s 9 wife. As a comment to the discussion of the difficult agricultural year, she emphasizes, “we have nothing”, and the house is built directly on the ground. She tells that she has eight children all in all, by two different fathers. The two oldest children, two sons of 23 and 21 year, live with their father in Port-au- Prince. “They have their father”, she says. ●With respect to the six youngest, she says that “I should have sent them to school but I can’t”. Their father died. They are two boys and four girls. Four of them are in Port-au-Prince and Petionville. ●The oldest among the girls is about 18 years old. She went to Petionville to do trade, but after the government outlawed the marketplace trade in Petionville, it was no longer allowed to sell there and she could not continue. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●This commerce was supposed to pay for the schooling of the youngest girl of 15 years, who came to stay with her. But now that’s impossible: “She started schooling in Port-au-Prince last year but couldn’t finish, so she couldn’t start this year. She did her third year last year in primary school. She feels the ‘bleach’ (klorox)”. By “the bleach”, she refers to the pain in the stomach that is felt 9 when hungry, as if you have eaten bleach.Now, the 15-year old helps her sister, washes dishes and does the dusting. They both live near Canapé Vert. One of the two sons (of the deceased father) has also left for 9 Port-au-Prince. He lives in the marketplace of Petionville. The other son is doing day labour, cutting horse fodder. He wants to earn money to put himself in school. This situation is more desperate than Marjorie’s, given that 9 refer chapter 5 parents respond to crisis without the opportunity of building up Living and working longer-term resilience. This situation seems extreme, but it was conditions, and experiences of not unique in the area. Parents also emphasised that children put separateness pressure on their parents to accept them leaving for town. Many children had also simply left Marigot, parents told, by taking the path across the mountains to Fermathe, and then continuing down to Petionville. Children’s active initiatives in these circumstances reflect the enterprising attitudes described in Chapter 5, in the context of children’s active pursuit of work opportunities in order to pay for their education. The accounts from adults in Marigot illustrate, also, that the death 9 of a breadwinner often leads to children’s placements in new homes. Widowhood was a recurrent topic in conversations we had with people in the Port-au-Prince area, and the 2010 earthquake had affected many, as the burden of support of children was too heavy following widowhood. The situation in Marigot may seem exceptional, but it does reflect 9 a general shift that was also remarked upon in Chapter 5: Whereas in 2001, parents often emphasised the “positive” factors of children’s placements in a new home, such as informal training in city habits or learning the ways of the world, avoiding idleness in children (“vagabondisme”), in 2014 many parents underlined that the placement of children is a response to a difficult situation, and which is especially unfortunate if it deprives them of the opportunity to attend schooling. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●At the same time, child placements are an elementary aspect 9 of social risk management in Haitian households, to the extent that discussing “motivations” for child placements seems biased: When a crisis arises, an equally relevant question to parents is why parents would insist on keeping kids close when they may receive better care elsewhere. Original parents’ expectations, motivations, acceptanc Based on the survey material, we see that parents that are 9 Figure 47 positive to letting their children live in other households have high Expectation expectations to the new household. They expect new caretakers, from the parents to the or employers, to help out with education and upbringing of the receiving child, and with feeding and protection (see Figure 47). households (UnWn Urban=76 and Rural=217 parents that would encourage children to leave to live elsewhere) Parents who have sent children to live in new households also 9 Figure 48 expect that the adults in the new household take action if their Acceptable child misbehaves: punishment by members of the ● there are some forms of punishment that are seen as relatively new household acceptable, such telling the child to stand on its knees, hitting the if child child with an object and sending the child back to the household misbehave of origin. (UnWn= 294 parents that would encourage children to leave to live elsewhere) As Figure 32 in Chapter 5 showed, the children that have been 9 punished the last 30 days have mainly been hit with an object or asked to stand on knees. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data A note on differential treatment of children receiving/employing households In receiving households, there are complexities in the way that 9 people understand the role of children who perform domestic work. This comes across clearly in children’s experiences that we described in Chapter 5. In many of the earthquake stricken areas we visited in 9 Port-Au-Prince, for instance, neighbours had taken in children when parents died. Already burdened by their own children’s schooling, new caretakers could not afford additional costs of schooling for new children. The differential treatment of children in house with respect to schooling did not reflect a deep-seated intent to exploit, but rather, showed economic limitations and parents’ commitments to provide their own children with an education. Asked if she would not send an orphaned child to school, one woman exclaimed: “Of course. But I couldn’t simply leave the boy in the streets alone”. Many children who did help out in houses in these areas did not 9 blame their caretakers for differential treatment, but were sadden by their destiny and by their inability to attend school. Many of the older children in this category tried to work in order to put themselves to school, and as such, saw it as their own responsibly. This entails those motives in “receiving” households, also among 9 “employers” whose use of children’s work in the house would be regarded as child domestic work according to some international standards, should not be taken for granted. 9 Child movements A high number of Haitian children have been moving from the 9 place where they were born. Among all the children under 18 years of age: ● one third (36 percent) has moved at least once. ● 14 percent has moved more than once. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data As shown in Table 25, more children currently living in urban 9 Table 25 Number of areas have moved than those living in rural areas. There might times children be at least two explanations for this; under 18 has moved by 1) Children tend to move from rural to urban households, or current area of 2) Rural households move less. Most likely the situation in Haiti residence and is a combination of the two. age Movements are related to age, but not as linear as one could 9 expect. While 25 percent of the youngest children have moved at least once, this is the case for about 40 percent of children both in the age-group 10-14 and 15-17. In all age groups the children currently living in rural households have moved less than the children living in urban households (Figure 49). In the survey interviews, children were asked about each move 9 they had ever done. We do not know the status of the children on each given point in time, but we do know if they were moving together with other members of the household or not. In the interviews with the children: 9 ● 42 percent of the moves were reported to have taken place in the company of parents. ●another 15 percent with other household members. ● and the remaining 43 percent of the moves were done unaccompanied by household members. Two third of the moves (69 percent) had taken place within the 9 22.With the same department, and 43 percent within the same commune methodology used, we have not intended to capture the children moving abroad When the boys move without other household-members, they 9 Figure 50 Destination move mainly within the same commune, or they move out of the for the moves by girls commune to a rural area either in the same department or in and boys have done without any other another department (Figure 50) household members (UnWn=608 moves) A large part of the girls moving without other 9 household-members also move mainly within the same commune. However, the remaining of these girls mainly travel out of their department, and move into an urban area. Thus, while boys move relatively shorter distances within rural 9 areas, girls move further away to urban settings. This brings attention, again, to the rural boys, an overlooked group in Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data discourses on child domestic labour in Haiti, whose labour is in demand in rural areas (cf. Chapter 5*). Looking at the reasons for moves that the children had done 9 Figure 51 Main reason unaccompanied by other family-members, results show that the for moving among main reason for moves were related to problems in the moves made when children are moving household of origin, either health problems, economic problems without other or social problems; or the main reason for the move was that the household members child was needed in another household (Figure 51). (UnWn=593 moves) Note that respondents were to provide the “main reason”, but 9 that these alternatives are not necessarily mutually exclusive. None of the children said that they moved in order to search for work. Very few children say that they have left their original homes to fulfil their own wishes, like obtaining work, schooling, for reasons of adventure or “to escape”. These results support the image of child domestic work in Haiti 9 Figure 51 Main reason as made up of informal relationships: for moving among ● children are not always “recruited” into arrangements that are moves made when children are moving recognised as “work” or “work for upkeep” by the people who without other benefit from children’s work, but many children still enter into household members working life this way. (UnWn=593 moves) ●Also, the results strengthen the impression of poverty and family crisis as a main driver in child placements Processes of recruitment and placement, and the issu of middlemen They most often move because of problems in their household 9 of residence, or their work input is in need in the household they move to. They do not leave their parents for good in order never to return: Children leave for a period of time, return, and leave again. In some of children’s moves a middleman is involved. A 9 middleman is defined in this context as a person that is neither a member of the old household nor of the new one, and who assists in the moving process for a payment or for free. The term “middleman” can be translated into different terms in 9 Creole. A koutye is a broker who procures services on someone else’s behalf. One may go to a market place asking for a koutye Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data to find a painter, a maid, and the same term is occasionally used in real estate. In the context of child domestic work, the term is used about the person who finds a child who can provide domestic work, and helps out in the transfer of the child from one household to another, for payment. In principle it is the receiving households that pay the koutye. In the receiving households, two percent said a Kouyte was used 9 when the child arrived (Table 26). Among these two percent, most employers had paid between 100 and 500 Gourdes (US$2- 10), with one exception of 2500 Gourdes (US$50). ●However, other persons than kouyte may be involved when 9 children move, most often referred to as Madam Sara or Vyewoi. These terms where used when household heads were asked about children that had left the household. ●Thirty-eight percent of the household heads said that a person unrelated to the household had helped out with the move in a way or another. This indicates that the use of a third party is relatively frequent, but there are rarely money- transfers involved. The children themselves reported that around ten percent of 9 Table 26 Use of their moves were assisted by a Kouyte. middlemen ●Usually, it is the receiving household that makes the contact with when children move between the Kouyte. Sometimes the children know about this contact, households other times not. Discrepancy in numbers is therefore difficult to interpret. In 2001, we registered similar accounts of middlemen, kouyte 9 included. As we did not obtain quantitative data on the use, we cannot state determine whether the use of middlemen is on the rise. During our qualitative interviews, it appeared that middlemen was 9 an informal family affair: ● A relative with a social network searched for possibilities of placement on parents’ behalf or put parents in touch with town dwellers in need of a child’s domestic work – the latter often a relative too, only more distant. ●Moreover, the discussion of “trafficking” in Haiti, also in connection with the new law against trafficking (cf. Chapter 7), does not reflect the fact that the majority of child domestic work cases are informal and directly organised, facilitated either by parents, by relatives who look for assistance, and in the case of Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data older children in rural areas, often initiated by children themselves. It should be recalled in this context, that only 17 percent of the 9 children who live away from their parents in Haiti (26 percent) do not have any prior relation to their current household head, or put differently, the absolute majority of children who live away from parents – child domestic workers or not – live with kin. 9 Conclusions ●In assessments in previous chapters of the distribution of child 9 domestic workers in urban and rural areas, we have seen that the proportion of children is relatively similar. ●However, it has also been shown that the proportion of boys in rural areas is higher than the proportion of boys in urban areas. Data presented on boys’ and girls’ patterns of movement in this 1 chapter echo these findings, boys more often than girls moving shorter distance to or within the rural areas. ●Again, this reflects the difference in tasks undertaken by boys and girls: girls move to urban areas to take up domestic chores in houses there whereas boys (also) take part in agricultural labour in rural areas. For the most part, however, parents, children and receiving 1 (emplopying) households arrange children’s movements through informal networks and without compensation. This should be kept in mind when discussing child domestic work in terms of conscious processes of “recruitment” By the same token, distinctions drawn between different 1 categories of children in earlier chapter, for instance on the basis of workload, age and education, are constructive for building up an understanding of child domestic work, but must not be understood categorically: ●These are not different children, but different situations that many children slip in and out of during their life course. As pointed out in this chapter: 1 ●households that contain child domestic workers score higher on the wealth index than households that have sent children away during the past five years. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●child domestic work is a “solutions” for household that are in need of helping hands, but also appears as a way to help out relatives who are in trouble and cannot provide proper care for their children at a certain point in time With the unpredictability of rainfall and income, many people rely 1 on these kinds of informal help networks: ●They know that in ten years’ time, the ones in need of relief from upkeep of children may be themselves. This does feed children into the “market” of child domestic labour. In addition to informal risk management strategies in a context of 1 poverty, children themselves in the slightly higher age categories (10 upward) often seek employment in order to pay for their own schooling. In this sense, the quest for education is contributing to the supply side of child domestic labour. Moreover, child domestic work in Haiti covers multiple needs and 1 reflects many motivations: ● The need for relief of upkeep of children among parents, for labour in receiving households, for investment in future security for receiving households (given that they too may need relief of child care at a later stage), and children’s need and wish for an education and better lives. ●This stands as a contrast to economies in which child labour covers primarily one need, for instance in a strictly plantation based setting where children work the fields but not much else. In consequence, several methods must be employed to counter their negative effects. 7 Responses: Institutions, organisations and methods Helen Spraos 1 ● This chapter presents the analysis of institutions and actors in the sector that relates to, and is of relevance to, child domestic work. ● It also discusses methodologies used by different organisations and actors. As discussed in the section on methodology in Chapter 2, a 1 particular challenge in the interviews with organisational and institutional representatives was that there is no general agreement about the delineations and definitions of “child Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data domestic work”, “child labour in domestic work”, or the often used “child domesticity”. Consequently, in Appendix 4, we list some of the definitions of 1 Although the NGOs agree on including practices of the w orst child domesticity that non- governmental organisations in this forms of child labour in a definition of “child domesticity”, study provide when asked (other have not provided a precise different organisations definition sometimes include additional criteria in “domesticity”, such as discrimination and abuse or the involvement of an intermediary. Definitions provided by NGOs do not discriminate according to children’s age, nor specify the w orkload, the time invested in w ork or the consequences of the child’s w ork for its living conditions implied in their understanding of child domesticity. Given that virtually all Haitian children perform household tasks, this is bound to cause confusion, a point that w as made clear during our conversations. 1 The national legal framework The legal framework in Haiti for the protection of children, and 1 laws on child labour in domestic work, is considered as insufficient by many stakeholders who participated in the interviews. The basis for child protection in Haitian law has been limited, but some progress is reported, particularly with regard to the harmonization of national legislation with the commitments made by the Haitian government internationally. Among the laws that relate to the issue of child domestic work, 1 The law is also the following should be mentioned: available at : ● The Labour Code of 1961, amended in 1984, defines and http://www.crijhaiti.com/ fr/?page=loi_interdictio prohibits forced labour in general (art. 4) and sets the minimum n. age for employment at 15 years for industrial, agricultural and commercial work and 14 for entry into apprenticeships (see e.g. ILO n.d.). ● Until it was repealed by a law of June 3rd 2003 (see below), Chapter 9 established the conditions for the employment of children in domestic work. The minimum age at the time was 12 years and IBESR was to oversee and control that standards were respected. Today, facing a void concerning minimum age for domestic work in national legislation, it is the ILO Convention 138 which provides the legal standard (see below, and discussions in Chapter 2). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data contd….. 1 ● The Law of September 2001 prohibiting corporal punishment against children see e.g. (University of Toronto 2008: 12) ●The Law of June 5th 2003 (La Loi relative à l’interdiction et à 1 (see Le Moniteur l’élimination de toutes formes d’abus, de violences, de mauvais 2003). traitements ou traitements inhumains contre les enfant) on the prohibition and elimination of all forms of abuse, violence, ill- treatment or inhuman treatment against children This text cancels chapter 9 of the Labour Code (see above). 1 University of Toronto With respect to this, the University of Toronto points to the legal 2008: 17, emphasis in gap left by the new law: original). ●Chapter 9 [of the older Labour Code] pertained to children’s work (’des enfants en service’) and included an Article allowing children to work as domestic employees as of age 12, which was highlighted as a concern by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) in its 2003 Concluding Observations regarding Haiti.However, this new law does not stipulate a new minimum for child domestic workers, resulting in a legislative gap The law of 2003 provides that a child may be “given to a foster 1 family in the context of a helping relationship and solidarity. It should enjoy the same privileges and the same rights as other children of the family. It must be treated as a member of the family” (Article 3). The text does not provide for penalties for those who do not comply with its provisions. However, it is under revision to correct this deficiency. The Law on Trafficking in Persons, enacted June 2, 2014 (Le 1 Law on the fight Moniteur 2014a)25. against human ●which penalizes all parties involved in “the recruitment, trafficking, published in Le Moniteur 2 June transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the 2014. Despite the fact purpose of exploitation” by imprisonment to life imprisonment. that this law ● The law does not refer directly to child domestic work but has been in employs the term “servitude” to mean the submission of a preparation for several person to a state or condition of dependency to provide a years and that the service; unlawfully forced or coerced (“l’état de soumission ou la debates have included the active participation condition de dépendance d’une personne illicitement forcée ou of many actors, contrainte par une personne de fournir un service”). participants were not well familiarised with its content and we were not been able to Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data discuss in depth its relevance to the phenomenon of child domestic work. ●The Law of 4 June 2014 on paternity, maternity and filiation, 1 which specifies that filiation creates moral and financial rights and obligations of the parents (Le Moniteur 2014b). A Child Protection Code has been developed, adopted by the 1 Government in August 2014, and is waiting for a vote in Parliament. This text includes provisions on protection against labour exploitation and abusive conditions in child placements. The same law prohibits child abandonment. A framework law that reforms the functions of the IBESR and strengthens the functions of the IBESR was also adopted by the Government in August 2014. Moreover, the Labour Code is currently being revised and the process of a revision of the Penal Code has been initiated. However, the organisations we interviewed emphasised 1 See also United persisting weaknesses in the legal framework. The 2003 Act on Nations (2009: 5) and the Prohibition of violence and abuse of children mentioned ILO (2013a). above is perceived as a particular problem. Despite the condemnation of discrimination, the text fails to specify the content of the relation of “solidarity” and, in the opinion of many of the interviewees, thus justifies the practice of entrusting a child to another, leaving the door open abuse.26 They also emphasised that lack of punishment prevents 1 see also the discussion prosecution in cases where the provisions are not met. In of the the judicial addition, despite the laws that already exist, and the frequent system below). cases of abuse that are identified by most of the organisational actors in the field, the laws are rarely applied in practice It remains to be seen how the new law on trafficking will be 1 We had to present the employed. When the Law was issued on June 2 2014, it had updated legal text to been in preparation for several years. Despite the fact that one interviewee, who has a representative of several institutions that participated in the interviews have led a the Ministry that had plea for the introduction of the law, the text has undergone been directly involved changes and the people we spoke with during the study did not in the implementation know well the contents of the final law.27 of the law. Nevertheless, the importance accredited to this initiative in some 1 sectors, as a tool to fight against the exploitation of children in domestic work, may trigger lawsuits. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data For the US Embassy, for example, the adoption of this law 1 provides a tool for the prosecution of cases that it has not been possible to bring before court so far. In the annual evaluation published by the US State Department (2014), Haiti, for the third consecutive year is on the watch list of countries deemed not to be in compliance with the minimum standards in the fight against trafficking in persons.Strong political pressure is likely to be put on the Haitian Government in the coming years for the implementation of this law, from the United States in particular. Non-compliance may result in consequences for cooperation 1 Haiti is at risk of being between the two countries. downgraded to Category (Tier) 3. In such cases, “Governments of countries on Tier 3 may be subject to certain restrictions on bilateral assistance, whereby the U.S. government may withhold or withdraw non- humanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance. In addition, certain countries on Tier 3 may not receive funding for government employees’ participation in educational and cultural exchange programs” (US State Department 2014: 44). it should be noted that during our interviews: 1 ● several members of civil society organisations, although satisfied with the adoption of an anti-trafficking law, expressed concerns about the very broad definitions of the provisions of the law. ●They were of the opinion that penalizing all perceived “actors” in the same way, parents especially, neglects the socio- economic roots of phenomena of trafficking. ●They say it as unfair to penalize people who act as a result of extreme poverty, all the while the state has failed in its duty to ensure access to basic services. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● This, they held, can lead to problems in the implementation of the law. 1 Actors This section describes the mandates of the different actors 1 committed to fighting child labour in domestic work and/or improving the lives of child domestic workers. Three categories of actors will be analysed: the State, international stakeholders and the Haitian civil society. ●This analysis will be followed by a conclusion on the 1 coordination between these different authorities. ●Comments on the most widely-used strategies will be found in the section of this chapter entitled “Actors’ approaches to children’s domestic work”. State actors The policy of the Haitian government ●The priorities of the Haitian government are presented in the 1 Haiti Strategic Development Plan (Government of the Republic of Haiti, 2013), operationalized in the Triennial Investment Framework 2014-2016. ●Among the five main defined priorities are access to education and basic social services (including universal education as a fundamental right, the generalization of school canteens and social welfare), creating jobs (with a strong impetus on the development of the agricultural sector) and the promoting of the rule of law (with a strong emphasis on the decentralisation of services and local development). ● Overall, these actions are aimed at the whole population and may address the causes of child domestic work, thus contributing to curbing the sending of children into domestic work. Although it is a matter of promoting social inclusiveness, measures specifically targeted at child domestic workers are not identified. A series of social programs for poor families have nevertheless been introduced and are presented in the section “The government's social programs (Ede Pep)”, included below. ● Because of this, in spite of the scale of the phenomenon, there 1 is no joint ministerial policy destined to fight child labour in Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data domestic work or improve the living conditions of child domestic workers. ● This lack and absence of a national plan for its implementation is deplored by many actors and reflects, according to some, a lack of vision on the issue. ●The first steps towards a national strategy have been taken by the “Sectoral Table” (“Table Sectorielle”) on child domestic labour. see “Coordination Platforms” below) and although the desire to involve a wide range of partners to help define it is laudable, these intentions will not be sufficient to perform such a task in the absence of involvement from the State’s highest administrative levels. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) holds the 1 Article 1 of the Organic responsibility of defining and executing the government’s social Law Decree of MAST, policy while ensuring the safety of workers in both formal and issued November 24, 1983. informal sectors and by granting specific protection to the family, women and children It plays a crucial role in fighting child domestic labour and should 1 Public finance bill take leadership in this matter within the Executive branch of the 2014-2015 consulted government. The Ministry has set itself the goal of providing help on http://www.mefhaiti.gou to disadvantaged families, notably through the program against v.ht/Documents/PDF/P hunger and social exclusion. For the current fiscal year LF_2014- (2014-2015), it has a budget of HTG 3.6 billion (USD 80 million) 106 equivalent to 2.9% of the state budget, of which 75 % are 2015_29062014_bl.pdf investment fees in social programs. The representative of MAST stresses the government's 1 commitment to upholding the rights of all people and the fact that slavery-like practices can no longer be tolerated. A certain willingness to advance the issue of domestic child workers and child protection in general is indeed indicated by the progress made for some time in terms of the legal framework, particularly with the development of the Child Protection Code, the preparation of a list of hazardous labour for children, the revision of the employment legislation as well as responsible parenthood and filiation act. Furthermore, the Ministry emphasizes the need to address the 1 causes of the phenomenon of child domestic work upstream and focuses on the establishment of a social welfare system and Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data other government policies. These include the fight against extreme poverty and free access to primary school, programs designed to reduce social injustice and mitigate the vulnerability of the poorest among the population. The Ministry therefore plays an active role in the promotion of government social programs (see "Data Collection" below) in collaboration with the Minister of State for Human Rights and the Fight Against Extreme Poverty who shares this preventive approach to child domestic work. ●The MAST Labour Directorate has inspectors who are 1 supposed to implement employment legislation by making inspection visits to workplaces in order to ensure the workers’ safety. ●However, their responsibilities are limited to employees only (ILO 2014), which would mean they are not empowered to control the labour of child domestic workers. ●The Directorate has however a Woman and Child Labour Department which, under Article 32 of the Organic Law of MAST, will ensure the application of legal provisions relating to living and working conditions of women and children. The Department coordinates the “Sectoral Table against 1 MAST could not domesticity” (see "Coordination platforms" below) and is provide figures on this responsible for raising awareness and training officials on child matter. trafficking and labour. This Department is, however, not very active on other levels and few complaints have been received. A grey area persists in terms of coordination on the issue of 1 domestic child labour between this office and IBESR (World Vision 2013) The Institute of Social W elfare and Research (IBESR) The main State actor responsible for the implementation of child 1 protection policies and the daily management of cases of children in need is the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR). The IBESR is a technical and administrative body attached to 1 Some of its functions MAST but which enjoys in practice a broad autonomy; a have become obsolete, framework law is in preparation in order to provide it with a such as ‘civilising the sublime act of structure better suited to its needs procreation through the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data implementation of eugenic policies (art. 119 of the MAST Organic Law of 1983). Indeed, IBESR is the institution that receives and organizes the 1 placement of vulnerable children who are identified by its staff or through its call centre known as “SOS Timoun”, referred by its partners or who come to its offices. ●IBESR protection officers have multiple responsibilities in relation to all categories of vulnerable children. In addition to exercising control over home child organisations and taking over the management of cases of children requiring intervention reported in their area (including children in the worst forms of child labour, i.e. situations to be eliminated), they accompany the rehabilitation process of children returned to their parents or families, sometimes in association with partners or who come to its offices. ●IBESR protection officers have multiple responsibilities in relation to all categories of vulnerable children. ●In addition to exercising control over home child organisations and taking over the management of cases of children requiring intervention reported in their area (including children in the worst forms of child labour, i.e. situations to be eliminated), they accompany the rehabilitation process of children returned to their parents or families, sometimes in association with partners. ●This requires an assessment of the family situation as well as the child’s best interests while ensuring monitoring, taking into account the necessity to refer the child to the services he or she needs. ●Moreover, agents take part in coordination meetings and sometimes engage in outreach activities in their areas, for instance radio shows or the organisation of meetings with community leaders. In 2013, IBESR received 50,832 calls through its two phone An electronic address lines (511 and 133) open to the public and which receive, on an is also available anonymous basis, information relating to cases of children in (enfantsvulnerables@g mail.com) which helps need (IBESR, 2013) activate the emergency cell. Also in 2013, the Institute received 243 cases of child domestic 1 Figures provided by the workers,including 175 girls and 68 boys. Child Protection Service on the basis of quarterly reports. The data is processed Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data according to the age of the child, preventing us from seeing the profile of these children. Pending the establishment of an improved data management system, the children are registered according to a single vulnerability. Therefore, some child domestic workers that were received for other reasons have probably not been registered and the true figure is likely higher. Each child receives the necessary immediate attention (food, 1 medical care, etc.) and is directed after his assessment to a specialized centre. IBESR also works conjointly with these organizations in order to facilitate, when possible, the child's return to his parents or, when appropriate, the extended family, with the help of a hygiene kit, school kit and income-generating activity for the family. As an organisation attached to MAST, the financing of IBESR 1 Interview with the from the Public Treasury is received through its parent ministry. Manager of IBESR, HTG 53 million (USD 1,175 million) were allocated for the fiscal 05.29.14. year 2014-2015 (the equivalent of less than 1.5% of the total Ministry budget), out of which 80% is spent on salaries. No investment funds are granted. In addition, the Institute receives a sporadic income from other sources ranging from 15 to 18 million Gourdes Crucially, IBESR receives a large grant from UNICEF (HTG 1 IBESR Budget 43,354,068 for the period from August 2013 to December Institutional Capacity 2014) covering a number of salaries (call centre manager, social Consolidation (UNICEF financing August workers, protection agents and a psychologist) as well as 2013-December 2014), specific activities (income-generating activities for foster revised families, the publication of statistical reports, WGTP department 07.07.2014. meetings) and administrative costs Thanks to this funding, IBESR has managed to open 1 By comparison, the decentralized offices in nine departments (the Department of the IBESR had only 4 “Ouest” is managed from the head office), enabling it to have a offices outside Port-au-Prince before much stronger presence in all areas of the country. the earthquake with Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data only a limited range of activities (Premarital service, for instance). Today, there are 7 people working in these offices, including 4 officers and 1 coordinator. ● Despite these limitations, many of the interviewed interlocutors 1 hailed the progress of IBESR in recent years. Its manager is particularly esteemed for her commitment and effectiveness. ● Nevertheless, according to one of the observers belonging to an international agency, now is the time to consolidate the achievements in the wake of the expansion of IBESR since 2010. ● Some practices need to be better assimilated by the officers so that they can conduct assessments without preconceptions, for instance, or handle cases according to the various encountered degrees of vulnerability. They offer training on topics such as the minimum standards of 1 care, psychosocial issues, and on the sale and trafficking of children. ●They provide daily support in certain instances, allowing social workers to apply the concepts learned during the training in their work environment. ● The relationship between the team of Terre des Hommes 1 Lausanne and the office employees of IBESR in the South is such an example of a highly appreciated relationship. ●In addition to consulting on certain specific cases: ●the two organizations undertake joint planning. ●allowing them to share the logistics, and they are currently working together on the implementation of the pilot project regarding the new structure of foster families. This initiative, described in more detail in the "Foster Family 1 Placement System" section below, seeks to develop a sustainable alternative for the placement of children separated from their biological parents by ensuring they are housed in selected families, accredited and monitored according to clearly defined standards. The Ministry of Women’s Conditions and Rights (Le 1 Ministère de la Condition Féminine et des Droits des Femmes, MCFDF) Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Although it should be concerned with young girls’ issues, the 1 The MCFDF selected 6 Ministry of Women’s Conditions and Rights (MCFDF) has yet to of the 12 points of the make them a priority Beijing Conference action program to work with, before addressing at a later date the other six, including the issue of young girls. Interestingly enough, the Ministry developed a draft legislation on 1 domestic labour and although it does not deal with child labour, it would be possible to imagine that the issue of child labour and domestic child workers, the majority of which are girls (see Chapter 3) could be monitored in collaboration with MAST. As was clearly underlined by the representative of UN Women, domestic work practices help maintain a cycle of poverty for women. Furthermore, the network of offices set up by the MCFDF for the 1 management of cases of violence against women (usually accessible through the decentralised offices of the Ministry in each department) would be able to welcome girl domestic workers (as well as boys, to a lesser extent) who have been subjected to violence in order to refer them. ●The Ministry however intends to share its experiences with the 1 actors that advocate the rights of children in domestic labour, the development of services as well as the Concertation Table on violence against women, a coordination procedure bringing together various State representatives (MCFDF MJSP, MSPP, MAST), cooperation agencies and civil society members in order to harmonize the actions of all stakeholders. ● Its members proceeded in developing a strategy and a work plan where everyone's roles are defined in order to achieve the best coverage. ●They have also produced a directory of support services as well as documents to raise the awareness on the steps that need to be taken by women seeking help. In this context, a protocol between MCFDF, the MSPP and MJSP for granting medical certificates for victims of violence was developed - a model that could befit children as well. The Ministry for Youth, Sports and Civic Action (MJSAC) 1 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ●Overall, the target group of the Ministry are youth between the 1 ages of 18 and 35 and the Ministry deals with children between 11 to 18 years only at the request of other Ministries. ●Apart from the National School for Sports Talent, its main focus is on the professional training of young mothers. The National Office of Migration (ONM) 1 ●The National Office of Migration belongs to the State agencies under the supervision of MAST. It was created to ensure the reception and reintegration of returnees and deportees and also to deal with internal migration – even though this second aspect of its mission has not been developed in the past due to a lack of funds. ●For this reason, the ONM have not produced figures on the scope of the phenomenon of child domestic workers or of the migration of children seeking a better life in the big cities. A new director is in charge and he could be interested in modernising the legal framework on migration (the current law dates back to 1953) ●At the present time, a restructuring of the services is underway and will be formalised by a new law. In this context, the creation of a unit dedicated to the sale and trafficking of persons (women and children being the main victims of both) is planned, which will allow the ONM to take the necessary steps to act upon this issue. The ONM has opened a shelter for returnees in Croix des Bouquets. The people who are received there do not stay long and are usually not child domestic workers. The Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) 1 ●The BPM is a specialised body of the National Police of Haiti (HNP), which is set up under the “Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciare” (DCPJ). In addition to working with children in conflict with the law, BPM is responsible for the protection of minors and the police investigations of child victims. It conducts investigations of offenses whose victims are under-aged and sends the information to the relevant authorities to allow for prosecution. ●The Brigade also conducts social inquiries regarding the situation of under-aged children, assists children in danger and participates in outreach activities, often in cooperation with IBESR. ●Civilian agents act as reinforcements when funding is available. They provide control over the four border points with the Dominican Republic in order to fight child trafficking and can get access to social circles where police officers are not welcome. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data The Brigade is directly alerted by the public: 1 40. The telephone line ● through calls to the 188 line (permanently open to received 5,423 calls in receive information provided by victims and the public 2013 without anyone knowing how many of regarding abuses of children's rights40). many of these involved ● through police stations where cases are referred by their cases state and civil society partners. of child domestic workers. The line was closed down for some time in 2014 due to payment problems. Once a case is reported 1 ● the BPM has a response time of two to three hours in the capital, if there are no other simultaneous cases. in certain instances (the example of a child working beyond his 1 BPM agents:The capacity was brought up) and according to the child’s best Brigade for the interests, BPM agents, always in relation with IBESR, may to Protection of Minors pursue the case but to talk with the concerned adults. (BPM). Pending the establishment of a new data management system 1 (see currently being developed "Data collection") Page:146 the classification of cases used by the BPM is based on the: 1 ● offense suffered by the victims according to its classification in the Criminal Code (rape, assault and abuse being the most common) ● does not reflect the nature of the child's vulnerability (for instance, child domestic workers have yet to be officially recognized as a category Therefore, for any given year, the system is not able to identify 1 41. Interview with BPM Commissioner, 5.12.14. how many child domestic workers were received by the Brigade. 42. This is an increase since ● Nevertheless, according to verbally shared data41. 2011 when 713 cases were ● 1808 cases of all kinds were received in 2013 .42. reported and 364 sent to ○ of which 555 were referred to the IBESR. IBESR (World Vision 2013). ○ 76 placed at the centre of Delmas ○ 3 dealt with by MAST ○ 46 children were returned to their parents Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ○ 84 concerned ill treatment ○ 43 were assaults ○ 73 were cases of runaway children The Brigade conducted 100 investigations of child labour (US 1 Department of Labor, 2014) but we do not know the number of cases that involved child domestic workers. ● According to a senior member of the BPM, a significant percentage of the rape cases involved child domestic workers. Some agents of IBESR emphasised the good relationship they 1 have with BPM and held that its officers are available at any time and participate in outreach activities alongside IBESR. Despite these strengths, the achievements of the BPM are fragile. ● The number of received cases is small given the size of children's rights violations in the country. Moreover, its status within the police is relatively low, as it is not a specialised body with a specific budget but simply a unit of the DCPJ. ● The number of received cases is small given the size of 1 children's rights violations in the country. Moreover, its status within the police is relatively low, as it is not a specialised body with a specific budget but simply a unit of the DCPJ. Although the salaries of members of the BPM are paid by the 1 HNP, the organisation remains largely dependent on funding by UNICEF for its : ● operating expenses ● civilian staff salaries as well as an important part of its administrative costs (a very limited support to cover some of these costs was scheduled for the end of 2014 and a disengagement plan was to be developed at the time of our fieldwork). ● The lack of an operating budget, apart for certain projects, makes the BPM highly vulnerable. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data BPM staff do not always have an office nor the adequate 1 43 In Jacmel, our equipment and do not always have access to transportation meeting took place in a despite the donation by UNICEF of a vehicle to each corridor due to the lack department43. of space and in Les Cayes, the vehicle of BPM was broken down, awaiting repairs. According to a participant of an international organisation : 1 ● the Brigade is not sufficiently valued by HNP Command. ● a pleading with the Police hierarchy would be required in order to receive the proper recognition and a resource allocation that would match its mission. ● the Brigade suffers from a lack of recognition and the public is probably not able to distinguish its actions from those of the HNP While some participants agree that cases of abuse are more 1 44.During the easily reported today, reluctance persists among some qualitative data sectors of the population,due to the lack of confidence in the gathering in Cité response that will be provided as well as fear of reprisals.44 Soleil, for instance, we witnessed as a rule of thumb the absence of such a thing as a “reporting culture”. 1 The Haiti National Police (HNP) The mission of the Haitian National Police (HNP) is to protect 1 45 the lives and property of citizens. http://www.alterpresse ● Its workforce is about 11,200 people,45. .org/spip.php?article1 ○ including a small percentage of women 6597#.VFqdzvmG9fY . The 2012-2016 five-year development plan of the HNP aims 1 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data for, amongst other things, the strengthening of operational capacity and the professionalization of human resources. Gradually, all of the HNP’s police officers are currently 1 receiving training on child protection. ● This approach began through the Child Protection Unit of MINUSTAH in 2006 with the introduction of a short module for new promotions and for some of the officers performing their duties. Since 2013, UNICEF has started a training course for some 1 inspectors attached to the School of Police who, with the help of an instructional guide, will be in charge of a preliminary training for all police recruits as well as the on-going training of existing policemen. In the Southeast, these focal points maintain tight contact with 1 the BPM in Jacmel but there is no formal obligation for the other police officers to contact the Brigade when dealing with a victim less than 18 years of age. According to interviewees: 1 46 A civil society ● the experience of working with other members of the member illustrated the HNP is less positive than with the BPM. Police officers tendency of who are not associated with this specialized body do not disagreeing with the necessarily understand the sensitivity of these cases. victim by quoting an ● According to members of the Haitian civil society, these instance when a officers tend to share the contemptuous attitudes of the police population towards child domestic workers and do not officer would have take these cases seriously 46. said that children in domestic labour are “all petty thieves”. According to these same interviewees: 1 ● when its intervention is sought, the police does not always respond to calls and sometimes demands money for fuel. ● On the other hand, according to one of the interlocutors, ● when local authorities are involved in a case, police officers react more swiftly. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 1 The judicial system Despite the advances in new laws described above (see 1 Refer:The National "The National Legal Framework"),progress is less evident in Legal Framework- the application of these texts. page 102. A detailed study of the practice of the judicial system in Haiti 1 concerning the rights to legal recourse by child domestic workers victims of crime is: ● We shall limit ourselves to a description of the procedure ● some findings and an analysis of some barriers that prevent victims from turning to the justice system. In the case of offenses against an under-aged child the BPM, 1 having conducted an investigation,sends the files to the local State prosecutor’s office From January to May 2014, for instance: 1 47. ● The BPM forwarded 40 files to the Prosecutor of http://www.hHNPaiti.co Port-au-Prince 47.and in Jacmel, in 2013, 80 cases m/site/index.php?opti involving under-aged victims were forwarded. on=com_content&vie ● The Government Commissioner then decides whether it w=article&id=12993:h is appropriate to begin legal proceedings, and if aiti-societe-environ-21 necessary, refers the case to an investigating judge, 2- before presenting it to the Dean of the Court of First mineurs-ont-recu-laide Instance for judgment. -de-la-bpm-au-cours-d e-ces-5-premiers-moi s&catid=8:societe&Ite mid=14. However, according to our interlocutors: 1 48 US Department of ● few prosecutions against individuals responsible of State (2014). illtreatment and other abuses against children are initiated, much less brought to completion. ● No convictions for cases of trafficking have been reported48. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Those who participated in our interviews about the reasons why 1 prosecutions are unsuccessful mentioned the following: ● A settlement agreement is sometimes found between the family of the victim and the aggressor.A community association provided an example of their involvement in a case of a girl domestic worker who had been raped.After having found the medical certificate and sent her case to the Prosecution Office, the perpetrator, who was arrested, paid HTG 7,500 ($ 165) to the child's parents in order for them to drop the case. ● An occasionally difficult relationship between the police and the judicial system. In one of the departments visited, recurring problems seem to arise between BPM and the Prosecution Office (for example, an administrative refusal to comply with a request for a medical certificate because it is perceived as additional workload). As with the HNP, there is a tendency to disagree with the victim 1 49 A police officer or to trivialize the case.49 explained that “the judge had not seen the child the day he was beaten up”. ● The cost, not only for lawyers but also for transport, is too 1 50. The project is high. valued at $ 800,000. ● It is interesting to note in this context the existence within Its sustainability the Prosecution Office of Port-au-Prince, of a legal depends on the assistance unit for women and children working with the success of a support of the Community Violence Reduction section of committee in charge MINUSTAH. of devising ● by aiming to reduce the number of cases of prolonged development preventive detention, the unit gives priority to inmates in strategies. other cases, resulting in a situation that could limit the access of child victims wishing to file a legal complaint50. Given these facts, it is not surprising that most interlocutors 1 do not trust the judicial system,which was also criticized for its corruption and influence peddling. ● We did not meet one civil society organization with a systematic support policy for child victims throughout the legal process. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Most merely refer cases to the BPM or the Prosecution Office. The negative experiences of the participants point to the 1 51.There is at least importance of training the actors in the legal system of child one Peace Court in protection. each municipality and ● The School of Magistrates has developed a training they probably deal program on juvenile justice. with a lot of cases ● 95 members of the legal system were given training in involving children 2013 and a follow-up was planned for 2014. that are not ● In addition, J/TIP of the Department of State of the United documented centrally. States has a training program on the sale and trafficking They sometimes play of persons for employees in the penal system. a conciliatory role and ● However, a member of the BPM particularly insisted on are the delegated the need for the Justices in the Peace Courts to take part authority of the in these training courses as they represent the branch of Government justice the most accessible to the population51. Commissioner. ● The same person regretted the fact that the judges assigned to cases involving minors are not systematically the ones who receive training on juvenile justice. It is hoped that this problem will diminish the more these training programs are conducted. It is important to note that in cases of disputes over working 1 conditions: ● the procedure seems ambiguous because of grey areas in Haitian law (see the Section on Legal Framework). ● MAST inspectors have not issued intervention reports (ILO 2014). The Office for Protection of Citizens (OPC) The Office for Protection of Citizens (OPC) is an 1 independent body: ● funded through the budget of the Republic ● mandated by the Haitian Constitution to protect people against all forms of abuse from the public administration ● contribute to the definition of the general policy for the protection of human rights Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● It contains a Child Protection Department with five 1 employees, including a representative office in Les Cayes and Cap Haïtien,intended to strengthen the protection mechanisms for children's rights. ● the OPC can potentially forward an appeal at no cost for children who have encountered difficulties (or their representatives) to actors in the protection system. ● The organization has decentralized offices to make access easier. ● The OPC is open to address issues of child domestic workers and has ● supposedly resolved some cases, the details of which are not known to us. 1 Local authorities According to the decree of December 3rd, 1973: 1 52.The Mayor of ● the mayor of each municipality is considered the legal Delmas has granted representative of all minors whose parents are unknown approximately 500 ● The mayors have the power to issue birth certificates to birth certificates to these children, a document required for asserting their street children but the citizenship and rights. procedure has not ● Yet, so far, there are few examples of the involvement of been extended to municipalities in the issue of child domestic workers child domestic 52.probably in part because,outside of big cities, they are workers. institutions with very limited resources 53 53 The Mayor of ● In some cases, mayors have received basic training on Delmas has a Social children’s rights (such is the case, for instance, of the Affairs office which current mayor of Grand Goave who attended a workshop focuses on street on child abuse organized by Terre des Hommes and the children and which BPM) does not have the ● but we know only of an isolated case and USAID will wait resources to carry out till after the elections to undertake training sessions on its activities. The human rights for all mayors in the country 54.. Mayor of Grand Goave has a budget of 400,000 HTG, three quarters of which come from a State allowance Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data supplemented by local taxes. This amount covers the operating costs and the salaries of 37 employees, with no social worker or a social affairs commissioner. 54. Interview with US Embassy staff, 6.11.14. The mayors currently in office (i.e. 2014) are appointed by the Executive since the mandates of elected mayors have come to term with no subsequent elections to ensure their succession. Several participants underlined the importance of CASEC 1 and ASEC (members of the Administrative Councils or Communal Section Assemblies, the smallest units of the country’s administrative structure) and other local officials. Many people are of the opinion that the proximity of 1 55.Limyè Lavi starts elected officials to their community members entails that they its interventions in an are able to identify families with child domestic workers and area with a families particularly vulnerable and likely to send children into participatory mapping domestic worker arrangements55 of vulnerable families. Under the new Child Protection Code, an important role is planned to be given to local officials. A parent who entrusts 1 his child to a family member for a period of one to three Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data months must notify either the council or a member of the 56 Article 394 of the closest local authority56. draft bill of the Child Protection Code. Given the lack of resources and administrative capacity at 1 this level (for CASEC/ASEC in particular), it is questionable whether the concerned authorities are genuinely able to exercise this function on a systematic basis. ● Even with proper training, it is not clear whether elected 1 officials can play the proper role of the social services. ● Nevertheless, a closer cooperation between the IBESR (or other relevant actors) and representatives of local authorities seems important. ● One of the mayors we met complained about the fact that he was not made aware of the family reunifications (of children with their original families) taking place in his commune, the municipal administration thus unable to contribute to the monitoring of the family. 1 International actors The system of the United Nations: 1 The United Nations Integrated Strategic Framework for Haiti 2013-2016 identifies two important priorities: ● the strengthening of the rule of law (and in particular the need to make the administration of justice more efficient) and child protection. ● It specifies in particular the establishment of a policy of protection against violence, abuse and exploitation of vulnerable groups (including children) and the availability of a national plan for the prevention and elimination of child labour. ● This commitment provides a framework for the involvement of United Nations agencies in efforts to end child labour, and in particular the worst forms of child labour in domestic work. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● The issue of child domestic workers has been a 1 long-term preoccupation for UNICEF, which has child protection as its specific mandate. ● Resources mobilized following the earthquake,combined with a greater level of coordination through the Child Protection Sub-Cluster and a certain willingness from state partners, has enabled the initiation of a more systematic work on protection. ● Advances in the legal framework for the protection of children against abuse and exploitation can largely be attributed to the collaboration between UNICEF and ILO on the one hand, and the government on the other. ● Through its financing, UNICEF has also enabled, for the 1 first time, national coverage of social services dedicated to child protection. ● The agency has also contributed significantly to the strengthening of capacities and structures of the main actors in matters of protection by promoting care solutions as a function of the specific vulnerabilities of each child (IBESR and BPM in the first place, but also the bodies of the judicial system). This collaboration has made possible the establishment of 1 mechanisms for monitoring children's homes and international adoptions, and in turn, has provided the foundation for the mobilization of organisations on the issue of child domestic workers. ILO - Program(s)/actions 1 Table 27. United IPEC (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Nations priority Labour) actions relating to ● Strengthening MAST’s activities and accompanying the child protection and State in its definition of the list of hazardous child labour child domestic and the implementation of policies for the elimination of workers child labour. ● Awareness-raising on the international standards regarding child labour. ● Advocacy for the adoption of Convention no. 189 (domestic work). ● Pilot project for the prevention of child labour Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Protection Unit, MINUSTAH: 1 Table 27. United ● Support of the State in the promotion and protection of Nations priority children’s rights actions relating to ● Strengthening BPM’s capacities child protection and ● Advocating the framework on juvenile justice child domestic ● Accompanying the Sectoral Table against domestic workers labour OHCHR/Human Rights Section of the MINUSTAH: 1 Table 27. United ● Monitoring from 8 decentralized offices the human rights Nations priority situation and monthly meetings with the protection actors. actions relating to ● Accompanying the victims in their rights to complain (3 child protection and cases of child domestic workers were received between child domestic January and March 2013.57) workers. 57 OHCHR/MINUSTAH Human Rights Section, quarterly report Jan. – March 2013. UNDP: 1 Table 27. United ● Promoting the state of law Nations priority ● Reinforcement Plan of MJSP’s capacities actions relating to ● Training of 8 judicial inspectors child protection and child domestic workers. UNHCR 1 Table 27. United ● Prevention of statelessness through the granting of birth Nations priority certificates. actions relating to ● Institutional framework for the support of vulnerable child protection and groups (Cluster Protection) child domestic workers. UNICEF 1 Table 27. United ● Partnership with MAST; financial and technical Nations priority strengthening of IBESR and BPM. actions relating to ● Strengthening the legal framework (Child Protection child protection and Code, etc.) child domestic ● Elaboration and implementation of foster family systems workers. ● Setting minimum care standards for vulnerable children Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Reinforcement of the data gathering system by child protection actors UN Women: 1 Table 27. United ● Promoting women's and girls’ rights Nations priority ● Reintegration and socio-economic support for victims of actions relating to violence child protection and child domestic workers. ● It should also be noted in this context that the UN Special 1 Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery led a fact-finding visit in 2009 to investigate the human rights situation of restavèk children (United Nations 2009). ● The report stated that “The Special Rapporteur considers the restavèk system a contemporary form of slavery” (2009: 2). The rapporteur is concerned that: 1 ● restavek children are forced to work long hours under heavy workloads ● that they are exploited economically in a way which also interferes with their education and is harmful for their development and health, and that abuses against restavek are widespread (2009: 2). Bilateral and multilateral international cooperation The US government’s foreign policy attaches great 1 importance to the fight against child trafficking. ● in addition to strong diplomatic pressure, considerable 1 funds have been made available through the US Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (known as the J/TIP). ● Through this mechanism, the US government has 1 invested more than $ 4.4 million since 2009 through Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data funding for the activities of, amongst others, the IOM, IRC and Free the Slaves. ● The amount available was increased after the earthquake in an effort to try to prevent an increase in trafficking, but funding has decreased steadily since 2013. ● Today, USAID, the US cooperation agency, is the only 1 58 international donor with a program that prioritizes child http://www.haitiinfoplu protection. s.com/index.php/actu ● It aims at strengthening the legal framework, public alites-d-ici-et-d-ailleur policies and national strategies for protection, as well as s/2360-hpp-akse-ouvr expanding access to services and care for vulnerable e-des-nouveaux-bure groups – including child domestic workers – in 42 of the auxa- country’s municipalities juvenat-petion-ville ● According to its manager, AKSE provides a bridge allowing USAID to implement a long-term strategy aiming to strengthen the protection system of the Haitian State58. So far, the European Union has provided none-recurring 1 funding for work promoting respect of fundamental rights, provided through several funding lines, including the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, and open to the civil society The International Organization for Migration (IOM) IOM is one of the most active actors of recent years 1 regarding child labour in domestic work. It addresses: ● the issue of child domestic workers, primarily through the lens of trafficking and the organization has played a key role in the definition of the new law on this issue. ● It actively participated in the law’s drafting process and pleaded for its adoption. The organization is particularly active in terms of family 1 reunification: ● 1944 such reunions were carried out between 2005 and 2013, 1170 (60%) of involved girls (see also the section on Family Reunification below). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Following the earthquake, most of these children were 1 identified in the IDP camps in the metropolitan area or were referred by IBESR. ● In order to provide emergency shelter, the IOM works with the Foyer l'Escale and the Centre d’Action pour le Développement (CAD). The IOM also participated in the work to strengthen the 1 capacities of IBESR and the BPM. In collaboration with UNICEF, it has developed a training manual on child trafficking in Haiti (OIM 2011) and has conducted numerous training sessions for state employees on issues such as the identification of trafficking victims, their listing, return and reintegration. The organization has conducted awareness-raising 1 campaigns in the communities of origin of children who have been reunited with their families,and among the populations of the displacement camps, on the risks of placing children as domestic workers. 1 International NGOs We Identified fifteen international NGOs with a particular 1 59 The following interest in the problems put forth by children’s domestic categories are not work, most of which are part of the Technical Committee watertight. There is a of this study.Overall, international NGOs play different degree of overlap roles in the efforts to raise the issue of child domestic between them, work59: particularly between b) and c), where several organizations promote individual empowerment and the establishment of structures, but with an emphasis on one strategy or the other. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Funding and coaching programs carried out by partners 1 from the Haitian civil society to assist child domestic workers. ● Kindernothilfe,for example,funds educational activities undertaken by MVM, ONEF and MOCOSAD for child domestic workers in Port-au-Prince,and also helps them develop codes of conduct; ● Terre des Hommes Switzerland is one of the backers of FMS, and Free the Slaves and Church World Service fund several partners,including ASR (see "Coordination Platform" below). Individual case management through protection programs 1 60 AVSI sometimes for different categories of vulnerable children and children pays for the education in need, including child domestic workers (see “Individual of a child if the care” below). recipient family ● This approach is used by Terre des Hommes (Lausanne) agrees to let the child and IRC who, once the child has been identified through domestic worker community structures, performs an assessment and attend develops an action plan based on the child’s best school. interests. ● AVSI, on the other hand, has a psychosocial approach in work with child victims,as shown in their work in Cité Soleil and Martissant (metropolitan area). ● AVSI does not necessarily seek reunification but ensures schooling and performs a negotiation with the recipient family in order to ensure a better integration of the child domestic worker60. Community capacity development through the See below on establishment of protection committees (Plan “Setting Up International, Beyond Borders, Free the Slaves, World Community Vision). Structures for Child Protection”. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 1 Mass awareness and direct help.Restavek Freedom Foundation (see Bracket 1) provides various supports (school, medical, etc.) to 7-800 child domestic workers in the metropolitan area and specifically targets churches in order to raise awareness nationally on child domestic work. However, it is interesting to note that, today, only two of 1 61 Not to be these organizations address the issue of child mistaken with domestic workers directly, namely Beyond Borders and Restavek Restavek Freedom Foundation61 (see Brackets 1 and 2 Freedom Alliance, below). an organization for which we lack information but which offers shelter for former child domestic workers in Southern Haiti (see https://www.rfahaiti .org/about/). ● Others act either as supporters of local organizations or 1 accommodate children who have experienced violations, also child domestic workers (TdH-L, AVSI). ● Save the children has prepared a project on “positive deviance” (dissemination of strategies of individuals in local communities whose constructive solutions are used as example), but to date, these remain without funding. ● This situation highlights the fact that a significant portion 1 62 IOM performed of the activities of international organizations depends on 267 reunifications Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data donor funding,and that activities tend to be developed in 2007 but only according to the available budgets. 47 in 2008, and ● This became clear after the earthquake, when the number 656 in 2011 and of international NGOs involved in protection and other half (330) in 2012. issues increased sharply only to decrease following the According to termination of the humanitarian aid programs in 2011/12. one of its ● With respect to family reunifications, it has been the employees, the available funding that has been the determining factor in variation is due to the number of reunifications, rather than the number of the availability of cases in the population.62 funds. FZT has children awaiting reintegration but the funding to do so is unavailable 1 63 The influence On the other hand, Beyond Borders and of a former self-declared child Restavek Freedom are able to mobilize domestic worker, funds from the public and from Jean Robert foundations in the United States where Cadet, must be noted in this their head offices are located. Due to context. fundraising campaigns, the concepts of Cadet eventually “restavek” and Haitian “child slaves” are migrated to the United States and relatively familiar to a US audience63 published a book about his experiences. He is the head of the Jean Robert Cadet Restavek Organization, which has given itself the mission of awareness-raising and acts as an advocate internationally (see http://www.jeanrca det.org/mission.as px). The Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data organization did not respond to our request for additional information. ● Furthermore, it is important to note that there is a 1 64 IBESR agents willingness on the part of most international NGOs to were reluctant to strengthen the State’s ability to ensure child protection, visit Cité Soleil, and many of them are partners of IBESR. but with the ● In addition to Terre des Hommes, which works in teams support of AVSI with the staff of the office of IBESR in the department of the recruitment the Sud, World Vision, for example, organizes joint and training of an missions to address specific cases in their sectors and agent fund some outreach activities. from the area is ● AVSI on their part assists IBESR agents ensure the planned, in order coverage of Cité Soleil64. to address this problem. Haitian civil society 1 ● For the past twenty years, a considerable amount of 1 Haitian NGOs and community associations have been engaged in efforts relating to child domestic workers. ● We have identified more than forty but the list is not comprehensive. ● Occasionally, organizations work in the same areas without knowing about each other’s existence or activities (this is the case of some organizations involved in Carrefour Feuilles, for example) ● there is some overlap in this regard (one NGO confessed that its beneficiaries are sometimes involved in several programs dealing with the same target groups). These organizations address the issue of child domestic 1 workers in various ways, ranging from: ● awareness-raising (Fondation Maurice Sixto) ● transitional housing (SOFALAM),Foyer l'Escale and CAD), prevention (Limyè Lavi ) Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● education (see Table 29) ● family reintegration (Foundation Zanmi Timoun Combite for Peace and Development) Other organizations that do not target child domestic workers 1 specifically (such as Fanm Deside, an NGO fighting violence against women in Southeast Haiti) may, however, engage in activities relating to this group of children through their community awareness-raising sessions and family reintegration programs. Among the human rights organizations, some have related 1 interests but do not specifically address the issue of child domestic workers: ● GARR (Support Group for Refugees and Returnees), for example, focuses on cross-border migration and the issue of cross-border trafficking, ● and the National Human Rights Network (RNDDH) leads no specific actions on child domestic workers at the moment but receives reports on abuse of all kinds. A major discrepancy can be identified between those, for 1 instance, ● who believe that it is possible to ensure equal treatment between the children of the house and child domestic workers (while reporting abuses), ● and others who think that the children should be returned to their families to avoid exploitation and abuse Unsurprisingly, these organizations are largely dependent on 1 external funding and the reduction of contributions from international funders makes them vulnerable. ● Most of these organizations have generally had little training and sustained support from international organizations; ● the latter that have rather created new structures through the establishment of ● Child Protection Committees (see the section below on “Implementation of Community Structures for Child Protection”). ● In addition, although they generally refer to IBESR or the BPM in cases of abuse, many Haitian civil society Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data organizations lack clearly defined partnerships with state institutions (with some exceptions: the DAC has a partnership agreement with IBESR). These observations led the Sistem Restavek Aba Network – a 1 platform made up of Haitian organizations working on the topic of child domestic workers – to initiate an effort of coordination of interventions and systematization of current practices (see section immediately below). Coordination platforms 1 ● For the issue of child domestic labour to be addressed 1 adequately and the protection of rights of the children involved, actors from different sectors need to work together. ● Some attempts at consolidation have been made, and sometimes succeed on a local level in promoting coordination on specific activities (such as awareness-raising and the management of individual cases, for instance). ● It is particularly striking that several of the groups 1 interviewed were not aware of each other, even when they are present in the same areas (some organizations active in Carrefour Feuilles are unknown to each other, for example) ● In some cases,there is even a tacit competition for the limited resources. The major networks and coordination workspaces that have 1 been created are: The Child Protection Working Group: ● (GTPE) is a platform for the exchange of national information created after the closure of the Child Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Protection Sub-Cluster, set up in the aftermath of the earthquake on January 12th, 2010. ● It is a technical coordination group responsible for setting strategic orientations, child prevention and protection policies, as well as data management, monitoring and evaluation, capacity devolopment and resource mobilisation. Coordinated by IBESR with the help of a partner (in rotation), it is composed of the main concerned ministries, relevant international organizations, as well as national and international NGOs active in child protection; it meets on a monthly basis. ● Decentralised offices can be found in 9 of the 10 1 departments (the exception being the West department, which remains a sizeable gap). ● A certain momentum can be observed in several departments (Southeast,Artibonite and Centre are worthy of mention) where regional actors are brought together, such as local authorities representatives, juvenile magistrates and Civil Protection. ● At this level, the Group provides a space for dealing with certain cases encountered and establishing joint work plans. Although the GTPE has shown its value and has worked on a number of issues such as adoption, child domestic work still remains to become one of its priorities. ● In the South Department, for example,the GTPE has several subcommittees (juveniles in conflict with the law, street children, inclusive education), but the one that should be dealing with child domestic labour is not operational. The Sectoral Table on Child Domestic Workers , 1 ● chaired by MAST, was launched again in 2011 as a space for dialogue, reflection and the sharing of information between the different actors interested in the issue. It is expected that the space also serves as a support for the government in the preparation and implementation of action plans, joint projects and a law concerning domestic child workers. ● IOM, BPM, MINUSTAH, several NGOs and associations were actively involved in these meetings. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Regular meetings were held for a few years but have not 1 been held since February 2014 (the data collection period for this chapter ended in September 2014). ● The Sectoral Table was able to prepare a first draft for a national strategy that has not yet been approved by the Minister of Social Affairs.Some participants say they appreciate the platform since it allows actors to network and thus act better when dealing with cases while others expressed the view that the meetings did not yield sufficient concrete results. ● The absence of a steering committee has been identified as one of its weaknesses. A deconcentration of its activities was put forward but has yet to become effective in the departments we visited. It is too early to witness the obsolescence of that instance, but next to the momentum shown by the GTPE, which in theory also deals with this issue, its modus operandi should be reassessed. ● The Sectoral Table has the advantage of having assured that child domestic labour is at the forefront of its concerns and its achievements should be maintained. ● With the involvement of some Ministers, it could become an ad hoc Committee for the implementation of an action plan on this issue. Failing this high-level commitment, it will probably be amalgamated with the GTPE and become one of its subcommittees. Under the new law on the subject, a National Committee to 1 Combat Human Trafficking, will be soon constituted and will provide a potential space for acting on issues relating to the exploitation of child domestic workers. ● The Committee is responsible for defining the relevant public policies and ensuring the application of the law, for establishing procedures for the identification of victims, for ensuring that the services necessary to trafficking victims are available (such as health, housing, legal assistance and reintegration) and for launching awareness-raising programs for the public. It is chaired by MAST, and also includes the MJSP, MCFDF, MICT, the MAEC, the MSPP, MENFP, IBESR, ONJ, 2 representatives of human rights organizations and, as an observer, the OPC. ● It is supposed to be funded through the State treasury but may receive grants. At the time of writing this institutional analysis,the Presidential Order for the appointment of the committee members had not yet been issued. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● A first conference of the Directors-General of the 1 child protection sector is planned before the end of 2014. ● If the meetings come to be held regularly and if child domestic labour is part of its priorities, this forum could provide an important tool for establishing a more coordinated and multi-sectoral approach, by opening communication channels and ensuring a more direct involvement of other Ministries in the definition of joint strategies to combat child domestic work in Haiti. ● The Sistem Restavek Aba Network (ASR) was 1 65 These are established in 2000 and currently has 19 members65, OJFA, ACNVH, CEMEAH, Madegan, MSIPACS, LATI, SODIH, CECODE, AED, ICEDNO, Zanmi Timoun Foundation, CAD, LACEED, Solidarité pour la Bienfaisance, Limye Lavi Foundation, Salvation Army, Foyer Maurice Sixto, FEDDEH and FOPJ. ● all from organizations of the Haitian civil society, but with 1 very different capacity levels. ● Together, they organize awareness-raising activities during the National Day Against Child Domestic Labour (each year on November 17th),an initiative launched by the Network. ● ASR receives occasional funding from some donors in 1 the ● US. Based on agreements, its members receive building Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data development training (victim identification, the establishment of codes of conduct,project management, etc.). ● External funding is sometimes distributed through the network. ● In addition, ASR is actively engaged in promoting the 1 66.Protocol Protocol developed by its members. Agreement for the ● This document 66 (reproduced in Appendix H), launched prevention of child in 2013, provides a framework of coordinated actions and domestic labour its members believe it will eliminate the exploitation of and the child domestic workers in Haiti. reintegration of ● The initiative was developed by the Network in order to affected children. ensure a real concerted effort instead of the dispersion witnessed so far. While it recognises the regulating role of IBESR, the 1 Protocol calls for the: ● development and implementation by the various stakeholders of a joint strategy throughout the protection chain. ● from the legal framework to the implementation of social safety nets and employment programs, including the identification of children, their care and social reintegration and access to quality education. ● The text of the Protocol was the subject of a large 1 promotional campaign in all areas of the country so that the greatest number of institutions could validate its contents. ● In the West department alone, 50 organizations of all kinds signed the document,thus agreeing with its ideas. ● Towards the end of 2014, a second stage will be opened to encourage organizations to adhere to the Protocol and commit to its principles and implementing it. ● Once 15 signatures will have been collected, the Protocol will come into force. 1 Bracket 1: Restavek Freedom Foundation Mission: put an end to child slavery in Haiti Strategies: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data i. Supervision of children through: ● 7-800 child domestic workers and children at risk in the metropolitan area that are identified and monitored at home by 10 “councillors”. ● Through agreements with certain schools, their education is paid for, as well as transportation, books and uniforms. ● As needed, these children also receive additional contributions (shoes, glasses, medical exams, etc.) and the recipient families are encouraged to treat them properly. ● A transitional home in Delmas accommodating around fifteen girls aged 11 to 19 subjected to serious abuse and who cannot return to their parents, some of which are sent by IBESR (another centre is being built in South Haiti). ● The girls receive psycho-social support,attend school and learn craft making. ii. Awareness-raising and mobilisation: ● The aim is to change the cultural norms and reach a mobilisation that will lead to a refusal of the “restavèk system” (child slavery). ● For this, the Foundation specifically targets Protestant Churches as these structures can reach a significant part of the population.Amongst other activities, it organizes: ➔ Songs for Freedom. A singing contest on the theme of child domestic workers, with rounds in each department before a grand national finale. ➔ A radio drama, Zoukoutap, which has reached its 78th episode, broadcast on 3 stations and rebroadcast several times a week. ➔ Justice for the restavèk! A training of trainers for church leaders and community leaders (with the help of biblical messages textbooks). ➔ All the country’s municipalities have been covered and 100,000 people are expected to attend before the end of 2014. 1 The Approaches of Actors to Child Domestic W ork ● Before analysing the most common strategies adopted 1 67 Of the 31 by the various organisations engaged in activites relating members of the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data to child domestic work, certain observations need to be Haitian civil society made concerning the interventions undertaken. First of all, that we registrered a certain imbalance in the geographical coverage of information on interventions should be noted. As is often the case in durting the Haiti, activites are concentrated in the metropolitan institutional study, area67. 21 are located in West Haiti and the metropolitan area. The lack of visibility of the organisations that do work in cities 1 other than Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, and in rural areas, probably results in less funding, a tendency which in turn increases this imbalance. ● Most interventions have not been formally evaluated (or 1 the evaluation reports have not been made public). ● This trend prevents actors from capitalising on their experience, which leads to a certain lack of efficiency. ● Rigorous assessments (whether internal or external) should be conducted, and results shared in order to reach a better understanding of what works and under what circumstances. ASR has proposed experiences be systematized. ● The activities are closely linked to funding. The end of a project or grant leads to the almost total cessation of interventions. ● This indicates that funding has a directly strategic role, but also raises questions regarding the sustainability of many of the actions undertaken. Awareness-Raising and Promotion of Children Rights ● Awareness-raising in many different forms is practiced by 1 most of the organizations pursuing the issue of child domestic labour and takes up a significant portion of the resources allocated for this purpose. ● With no access to the documents concerning the projects for which the material was developed, we are unable to analyse the goals and achievements of the Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data awareness-raising activities. We will nevertheless try to show here the range of communication means and offer an overall analysis of the impact of these efforts (see Table 26 below, which is far from comprehensive). ● These awareness-raising activities are sometimes 1 designed to sustain initiatives in support of interventions, although in other instances these prime means may almost be seen as an end in themselves, assuming that information is the key to a behavioural change. It should be noted that there are a number of approaches 1 and communication strategies grouped under this title. Not only are the communication means used very diverse, but the targets and messages broadcast are also very large. These are, amongst others: ● Prevent the sending of children into domestic labour by warning the families in the areas of origin of the risks associated with the practice (including through the testimonies of parents reunited with their children). ● by promoting parental responsibility and good practice in the education of children. ● by promoting family planning (an important element in some of the organizations’ strategies ) in order to decrease the burden of children.seen as a cause of child domestic work in families of low economic means. ● Discourage people likely to take on a child domestic worker ● Prepare for the return of a child in a family and a community ● Encourage a better treatment of children in recipient families ● Promote the reporting of cases of abuse ● Inform children on behaviours they should not tolerate and on seeking help. ● According to some interlocutors, the awareness-raising 1 has shown its effectiveness, since the population is now more willing to report or intervene in cases of abuse. ● Others have questioned the resources invested in mass awareness-raising, especially given the lack of funds for the support activities of child victims. ● Indeed, the cost of these activities varies greatly, ranging from community radio shows and door-to-door visits by Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data volunteers (done at little cost) to large events that are very expensive to organise. Yet, many people would like to intensify outreach activities because they think it is one of the best ways to end domestic child labour. ● Moreover, it should be noted that during many public 1 interventions in Creole, the word “restavek” is still used, although it is a derogatory term for child domestic workers. ● Unfortunately, despite the significant efforts invested in these activities, few evaluations have been conducted on the effectiveness of the strategies adopted (the radio drama Zoukoutap is an exception, with an on-going evaluation at the time of writing this study). ● Public health experience shows that is not enough to inform or otherwise identify the barriers that prevent target groups from changing their behaviour (on a community level or on the level of the socio-economic and political structures). Organization-IBESR 1 Ref:Table 28 ● Means:Involvement in Carnival (parade, banners, handing Awareness-raising out tee-shirts; media activities) undertaken by ● Target Groups :Carnival audience certain ● Message:Promotion of children’s rights Use of organizations on emergency numbers: 511/133 the issue of child domestic work BPM/IBESR in the regions 1 ● Interventions in local media -Area population ● Awareness-raising sessions-Schools, various groups Fondation Maurice Sixto 1 10.12.14. ● Viewing of Ti Sentaniz -Schools -Haiti with no ‘restavek’; website (207,053 visitors69. ● Talks-Women’s groups -A child is a person, protect-me, do not exploit me; -Students from over 60 schools-Distribution of 1,000 flyers. Beyond Borders 1 Means :Door-to-door visits Handing out leaflets Short movie Target Groups :Population of the targeted neighbourhoods Message 6:Contact number to report cases of abuse Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 1 70 Restavek Freedom https://restavekfre edom.org/estore/a Means: ll?=&nccsm=21&_ ● Zoukoutap (radio series) _nccscid=20&__n ● Songs for Freedom (contest) ccsct=Justice+Cur ● “Compassion and Courage” Conferences riculum+Training& ● “Justice for the Restavek” training __nccspID=947 Target Groups ● Contest audience in the 10 departments (youths) ● Churches and community leaders ● Churches and community leaders Message 68 12 biblical messages to fight the restavek system Audience reached 17,000 participants (target: 100,000 by the end of 2014)70 IOM 1 Means : Comic books (Chimen Lakay) Target Groups Population in camps and other groups Message : Stop the “restavek” system; a child’s best protection is his family; if you think a child is in danger, call 188 IRC 1 Means : Stickers Message : Living with my family is my right as a child. Respect it! BIT 1 Means: June 12th celebration (World Day Against Child Labour) Leaflets Message : Prevention and elimination of child labour Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ASR 1 Means: National Day Against Domestic Labour (media interventions, rallies, etc.) Preventing Child Work in Domestic Labour and 1 Exploitation After several years of experience trying to fight the issue of child domestic workers through awareness-raising in urban environments, Limyè Lavi made a strategic choice to refocus its work in order to address the key factors it feels are the source of the problem: ● namely the lack of access to schools and the economic problems of families in rural areas. ● Their model is the strengthening of rural communities from which originate the majority of child domestic workers. The organization uses a popular education method on 1 children's rights, developed with the help of an anthropologist in order to ensure its relevance in the Haitian context (Edikasyon se yon konvesasyon is also used by World Vision, Beyond Borders and SCF in the training of their protection committees). ● Its approach aims to empower the population to help 1 itself and to create action plans to deal with its major needs. ● In parallel, schools using accelerated curriculum for over-aged children are being set up for vulnerable children and community activities are launched (a savings and credit program to fund trade activities, for example, or a shop for agricultural inputs or goat keeping) ● The profits are partly used to pay for the education of the children in need within the community. According to an external evaluation conducted early in 2014, 1 Free the Slaves after 3 years, 27% of child domestic workers initially (2014). identified (55 out of 205) are returned and the influx of children becoming child domestic workers has decreased.71 However, these initiatives are costly and do not yet cover all the 1 families whose children have returned; Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● because of the precariousness of the life of farmers, there exists a risk of the children becoming once again child domestic workers. It is also interesting to note that AED (one of the members of 1 This initiative is ASR), besides offering non formal education and recreational funded by CRS. activities for child domestic workers in Solino (a popular district of Port-au-Prince) organises a credit savings group of about thirty families in order to improve their situation.72 The justification for this is that, according to the association, the 1 abuses suffered by child domestic workers are not done consciously but are the consequences of the very difficult living conditions of existence. This approach seeks to offer economic help in order to prevent the exploitation of children. The organization formalizes this relationship by having the participants sign an agreement detailing the importance of using the benefits derived from the activity, for all the children under their care.Should this not be the case, the families are expelled from the group. This happened at least once. The Government Action Plan for the Reduction of Extreme 1 Poverty should provide, in the medium term, a major step in preventing the phenomenon of child domestic workers to the extent that its objectives will be achieved. However, as we have already observed, the duration and scope of these programs are often limited, and certain aspects of their implementation have been criticized. Furthermore, care should be taken to ensure that the most at-risk families do not fall through the cracks of the social safety net (by living too far from a PSUGO school, for example). 1 Implementing Communit Structures for Child Protection Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Several non-government stakeholders make a great effort in 1 developing community structures for child protection that are able to play a role in both prevention, promoting the children’s rights, and also monitoring and reporting cases of abuse. This strategy is implemented by ● SCF, and others, ● in the south-eastern and western areas (Port-au-Prince and Leogane) ● Plan Haiti in north-eastern areas ● World Vision in Plateau Central and La Gonave ● Beyond Borders in the metropolitan area ● and Limyè Lavi in South East Haiti, through the training and mentoring of local child protection committees, composed of a dozen volunteers. ● In these cases, the members receive training on the 1 rights of children and on how to provide a listening ear. ● SCF alone has created 68 committees and Beyond Borders around fifty. World Vision and SCF also support the implementation of children's clubs with nearly 14,000 and 2,400 children respectively. To the extent that these networks are able to operate independently without sustained support from an NGO, they offer an interesting and sustainable option for identifying and managing cases of child abuse, be it domestic work or other circumstances. ● In the opinion of some individuals highly involved in monitoring, at least some of these groups have stopped working or have difficulty in continuing their work. ● In the southeast areas, for example, they have lost contact with IBESR and do not use the listing tools made available to them. ● They continue to refer certain cases to the BPM without the proper documentation provided for this purpose. The departmental office of IBESR has considering reinvigorating these committees. ● It is interesting to note an initiative of Beyond Borders, 1 see Bracket 2 aimed at creating a network of adult domestic work survivors. ● About 160 people are grouped into 11 groups in the metropolitan area. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● They take part in community education sessions and 1 stimulate dialogue in the hope of organizing themselves and overcoming the stigma that exists towards child domestic workers and integrate themselves in the struggle against the exploitation of child domestic workers. Bracket 2: The approach of Beyond Borders Acknowledging that the phenomenon of child slavery in Haiti 1 is the result of both the socioeconomic realities and attitudes towards children, Beyond Borders has two complementary programs, one rural and the other adapted to urban areas. i. Child protection : ● Objective: Contribute to the emergence of a movement for the rights of the children in Haiti, with particular emphasis on the eradication of child slavery . ● Intervention areas: metropolitan area (Delmas, Pétion-Ville, Martissant, Carrefour, La Saline, etc.) Target groups: associations and community leaders, civil servants, adults who worked as child “slaves” Strategies: ● Awareness-raising of the inhabitants of popular neighborhoods and community leaders using the popular education methods ESK (Edikasyon if yon Konvèsasyo ) ● Participants are then encouraged to form child protection committees in their areas (43 were created between 2010 and 2013). These groups, which are autonomous, raise the awareness of the population of the neighbourhood with door-to-door visits, handing out a contact number, and refer the reported cases of abuse. 3,000 children’s rights activists were thusly trained. ● Creation of survivor groups composed of former child domestic workers (about 160 people). ● Collaborate with the Sectoral Table, GTPE and other instances 2014 Budget: $321,750 . ii. Model Communities (in partnership with Limyè Lavi). Objective: Promote sustainable means of living as well as 1 access to education so that parents in rural areas are able to provide the basic needs for their children. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Intervention areas: South-East (municipalities of Jacmel, Marigot, Bainet). Target groups: community leaders, parents with children living as child domestic workers, over-aged children . Strategies: ● Community Dialogues around ESK, leading to the creation of KOMANTIM (Children Supervision Committees), 1.600 individuals trained . ● The implementation of an accelerated curriculum for over-aged children, more at risk of being sent into child domestic labour. (146 children in 2012, distributed in 10 classes) . ● Payment of a portion of the school fees for the poorest students, and a rental service for textbooks, otherwise too costly for parents . ● Creation of seed banks and tools to improve the farmers’ yield . ● Literacy and entrepreneurship Programs for adults 2014 Budget: $369,522. Mitigation: Education, Material Assistance and Soc Integration. ● Given the situation of deprivation usually experienced by 1 child domestic workers, and the lack of access to schools in particular, a number of organizations have decided to supervise the children and provide them with other services to meet their needs. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Restavek Freedom, for example, covers the cost of education for over 700 children. There are also many community schools in the poor neighbourhoods of large cities – only a portion of which we have been able to identify (see Table 27 below) - whose purpose is primary education (the first six years of compulsory basic schooling according to the amended version of the Constitution). They allow underprivileged students, and child domestic 1 The afternoons have workers more specifically, to benefit from basic been chosen because education. Local organizations such as Koz Pam in the the children having metropolitan area and MBESH in the southern region of accomplished their the country help identify child domestic workers and morning chores are organize lessons in the afternoon, mainly attended by this more available. category of children73. Moreover it is sometimes possible to use the rooms of other schools that are open in the morning only. ● Certain organizations (such as CAD, FOPJ, MBESH, 1 OJPA and Limyè Lavi, for instance) use an accelerated curriculum, recognized by the MENFP and developed for older children, which allows students to reach the Certificate level (6th fundamental year) after 3 years of study. ● This method seems well-suited to child domestic workers, who are often educationally retarded. Its application should however be the subject of a special assessment. Several of these institutions have received coaching from GHRAP, a Haitian NGO, for the implementation of the system. ● In addition to the formal education provided, these 1 schools have certain features suited to the needs of the targeted children. A relaxation of the rules is applied: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data unlike most other schools, the students are accepted even without a birth certificate, for example, and they are not turned down if they are not properly dressed, dirty or show up late for class because of personal circumstances. ● The Zanmi Timoun and Pam Koz Foundations use a timetable, developed with the families in order to limit the child’s working hours and ensure that he / she can study, sleep and enjoy recreational activities. ● For its part, FOPJ organizes monthly meetings with the recipient families where trainings on topics such as children’s rights are organized. According to one of the interlocutors, this allows them to feel more like other children. In this spirit, the Foyer Maurice Sixto seeks to integrate the other children of, the household in extra-curricular activities (summer camps, for example), while MVM provides a ration of dry food to the recipient family so that the child domestic worker can bring something home, which could lead to an improvement in his treatment. ● Despite efforts to ensure children receive a basic 1 education, participants acknowledged that the first two cycles of primary education (from the first to the 6th fundamental years) are not enough for them to find a decent job as a grown-up and thus become independent. ● Once the students have passed their Certificate of Primary Studies, the relevant organizations, thanks to their influence, try to refer students to other schools so that they can be admitted into State high schools, or negotiate half-grants through the directors of some high schools. ● Some organizations offer for the children under their care a professional training promoting their integration into the employment market (Foyer Maurice Sixto, FZT or OJPA, for example), either directly or in partnership with another institution. ● n. According to the institution, several courses are available, (plumbing, bodywork, handicraft, computers, sewing, etc.). Sometimes, these same organizations try to help the child find a job or an internship (Terre des Hommes Switzerland has recently launched a support service for the professional integration of young people from underprivileged backgrounds, helping them in their first steps towards getting a job). Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● For the sake of avoiding perverse effects and having 1 children become child domestic workers because of easier access to city schools, MBESH has decided several years ago to reduce its support to schools in urban areas and focus on rural areas where most of the child domestic workers originate from. ● Moreover, the more PSUGO comes into effect, the lower of children lost to the system, and the schooling offer running parallel to the state system will no longer be pertinent. Bracket 3: Foyer Maurice Sixto (FMS) 1 Aim: Offer to child domestic workers access to schooling and a 1 psychological and emotional support, educate the boss-families . Target Groups: around 350 child domestic workers, aged between 7 and 8, 80-85% of which are girls; neighbourhood children, boss families and biological families. Intervention Area: Carrefour (metropolitan area) 1 Programmatic Orientations: 1 i. Education of fundamental years 1 through 6 (for children aged 7 to 15) and literacy programs for children over 15. The children receive a warm meal and a glass of milk . ii. Activities (sports activities, recreational outings, collective birthday and Christmas celebrations, etc.) iii. Professional training (bodywork, hotel skills, electricity), to give children a better perspective on their future. Since the earthquake children were sent elsewhere for their training but starting in 2015 a new center will open, with 3 workshops . Since September 2014, the Support Services for Integration into work helps young graduates integrate into the work market through training (job seeking), guidance in the establishment of microenterprise, finding internships, partnerships with business that can provide jobs or contracts, etc. iv . Awareness-raising of the receiving families during monthly meetings on children’s rights, etc. and of the population in rural areas to deter them from sending their children as domestic workers. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data In cases of emergency, FMS has at its disposal a short-term foster home (up to one month). Funding: Terre des Hommes Suisse, Chaine de Bonheur, SOS Enfants Sans Frontières 1. Name of the Institution :Foyer Maurice Sixto 1 Table 29 Some of the 2. Location of the school(s) :Carrefour organizations offering 3. School Curriculum :1-6 Fundamental years (AF) schooling to child 4. Age Group :7 - 18+ domestic workers 5. Number of students who are child domestic workers :350 (280-300 girls); 80-90% child domestic workers 6. Extra activities with the students:Warm meal, glass of milk 7. Secondary/ professional :Professional training 8. Comments :Meetings with the family Summer camps Dental clinic 1. Name of the Institution :CAD 1 2. Location of the school(s) :Carrefour Feuilles 3. School Curriculum :Accelerated 4. Age Group :11-17+ 5. Comments :GHRAP supervision Name of the Institution :Limyè Lavi 1 Location of the school(s) :Jacmel, Bainet School Curriculum :Accelerated Number of students who are child domestic workers :148 per year (444) 1. Name of the Institution :Foyer L’escale 1 2. Location of the school(s) :Pleine du Cul-deSac 3. School Curriculum :1-5 AF 4. Number of students who are child domestic workers:43 5. Extra activities with the students :Accommodation, medical care 1. Name of the Institution:LATI 1 2. Location of the school(s) :La Saline 1. Name of the Institution :MSIPACS 1 2. Location of the school(s) :Carrefour Feuilles 3. School Curriculum :Preschool – 6 AF Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 4. Number of students who are child domestic workers :20 1. Name of the Institution :FZT 1 2. Location of the school(s) :Ti Place Cazeau Gressier Savanette 3. School Curriculum:1-6 AF Accelerated 4. Age Group :10-18 5. Number of students who are child domestic workers :360 (120 per school), the majority of which are child domestic workers 6. Secondary/ professional :Professional training 7. Comments:GHRAP supervision 5. Name of the Institution:MBESH 1 6. School Curriculum:21 centres from 1-4 AF; 10 centres, accelerated programs 1-6 AF 7. Age Group:10-14 at the onset 8. Number of students who are child domestic workers:2,500 (including circa 1.000 child domestic workers) 9. Extra activities with the students :Books; school kit 10. Comments :The uniform must be provided by the family 1. Name of the Institution:OJFA 1 2.Location of the school(s) :Carrefour Feuilles 3.School Curriculum :1-9 AF Accelerated Programs in the afternoon 4.Age Group :7-17 5.Number of students who are child domestic workers :547 (including 387 girls) vulnerable children 6.Extra activities with the students:Donation of uniform, books and equipment; warm meal . 7.Secondary/ professional :Professional training 1. Name of the Institution:FOPJ (Foyer Esperance) 1 2. .Location of the school(s) :Carrefour Feuilles La Saline 3. School Curriculum :Accelerated 4. Number of students who are child domestic workers :250 (210 of which are child domestic workers), a majority of girls 5. Extra activities with the students:Dance lessons, music, cooking, computing, etc. on Saturdays; infirmary, hot meal. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 6. Comments :Yearly contribution of 350 Gourdes, children are not sent back in cases of non-payment. Free tee shirt and books. CWS and MCC funding 1.Name of the Institution :CECODE 1 2.Location of the school(s):Cite Plus 3.School Curriculum:Maternelle-6 AF (Accelerated program) 4.Number of students who are child domestic workers:84 5.Comments :GHRAP Supervision 1.Name of the Institution :Koz Pam 1 2.Location of the school(s):13 municipalities including 3 in Pétion-Ville, Delmas, Port-auPrince et Carrefour, and one in Gressier 3.School Curriculum :1-6 AF Accelerated Program for older children 4.Age Group :7-15+ in groups according to the age group 5.Number of students who are child domestic workers :Nearly 2,000 children with 60% girls, all child domestic workers or children in need 6.Extra activities with the students :Recreational activities after studies and on Saturdays (dance, soccer, discussion sessions, etc.) 7.Secondary/ professional :Children referred to high-schools; tile- laying lessons in Philipeau 8.Comments :Action Aid funding cut off since the introduction of PSUGO 1.Name of the Institution :New Academy Adam César 1 Monplaisir 2.Location of the school(s):Grand Goave 3.School Curriculum :Preschool until 4 AF (until 5 AF last year) 4.Number of students who are child domestic workers:Capacity of 150, decreasing 5.Comments :0 to 500 Gourdes Individual Care: 1 (see “Setting Up ● Several international NGOs (IRC, Terre des Hommes) Community Structures work with IBESR to ensure the management of individual For Child Protection” child victims cases. above) ● Once a case for protection is identified by the community structures with which the organizations work or is reported Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data by another actor, the child’s needs (medical or psychological care, etc.) are evaluated. ● SOFALAM offers macramé or cosmetology activities for girls who take part in their programs, for example, and at times an aid for school Reintegration. ● In the case of children, this process often results in a family-based rehabilitation (developed in more detail below “Emergency Accommodation and Alternative Placement”). Family Reunification 1 ● For a number of years, great efforts have been made to support the reintegration process, particularly after the 2010 earthquake, when many resources were made available for family reunification. ● IOM alone carried out a total of 894 reinsertions of child victims from trafficking, between January 2011 and December 2013, in collaboration with its partners. The strategies used to conduct reinsertions vary. In most 1 74 At least one cases, the initiative is taken by the organization that took institution offers charge of the child, often with the backing of IBESR, and education to two of incorporates a range of benefits such as food kits, the family’s children in payment of school fees74, economic programs order to avoid others (stockbreeding, trading or other agricultural activities, for being sent into child example) domestic work after their reinsertion. The amount of income-generating activities varies, but can 1 range from 5,000 to 20,000 Gourdes ($ 110-450). ● The child is first placed in a centre (usually the Foyer 1 l'Escale and the “Centre d’Action pour le Développement”, CAD) where or he/she receives medical attention, can attend school and sometimes receives psychosocial support while waiting to be reinserted. ● Moreover, the family enjoys training and income-generating activity (often trade or agricultural activity) worth 20,000 HTG ($ 450) to improve the family’s economic situation and prevent the child becoming once again a child domestic worker. ● Particular importance is given to a one-year monitoring, based on a classification system (green, orange and red) Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data and providing a more regular attention on higher-risk cases. For others however, success is not guaranteed to the extent 1 that the living conditions of the family remain as fragile as when the child left. ● . Several interlocutors admit failure in cases where the child returns to child domestic labour in another recipient family. ● . Even when the biological families wish to keep the child at home, their inability to meet its needs makes them reluctant to receive him. According to one participant, parents even tend to blame the child, arguing that he is the one responsible for his mistreatment. ● . In other cases, the child himself has difficulty adjusting to his native home after getting used to the urban lifestyle. Families sometimes find it difficult to manage resources 1 (an available report provided by an economic activity and this activity does not states 5 cases of necessarily become permanent failures out of 18, with 9 others barely functioning). ● An evaluation for Limyè Lavi quotes a parent saying “the 1 school is paid for, true enough, but the children get up in the morning and you have nothing to offer them, you don’t even have shoes for them to wear. ● They learn, but sometimes the teachers tell you that the child sleeps in school, and it’s understandable. ● If the child goes to school on an empty stomach, it's normal”. Once the school year is over, parents may not necessarily have the funds to pay another year, meaning they would be back to square one. ● On several occasions, parents have even asked for 1 money before accepting to have their child returned at home. It is feared that these incentives may encourage sending children to become child domestic workers in the hope of receiving a donation. ● For this reason, many institutions prefer not to propose income-generating activities, despite the fact that economic support is considered necessary for the success of the approach by other institutions. ● To avoid any ambiguity, Limyè Lavi and World Vision prefer not initiate reinsertions but prefer that parents Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data choose to reintegrate their child themselves after a period of reflection. ● Monitoring is deemed essential to the success of family 1 reunification. ● Despite its importance, this monitoring occurs rarely beyond a year after the reinsertion has taken place, because of the lack of funds, and there is generally no data to show what happens after this period. ● One year is too short to complete the process correctly. ● Although IBESR is often associated with the rehabilitation activities performed by its partners, field agents lack the means of transport for them to ensure a correct follow-up. ● For this reason, many participants suggested the involvement of CASEC and the ASEC (representatives of the smaller units of the local authorities) because their close relationship would allow them to monitor the situation of the children involved. ● Although it is considered the optimal solution, the costs of 1 reintegration are therefore high because of the complexity involved and the process is not always successful. ● In the absence of systematized data, we are not able to identify the factors that lead to the success or failure of income-generating activities, but the examples quoted remind us that these must be addressed with caution. ● Again, a better documentation and evaluation of experiences is essential in order to understand under which conditions reintegration works. ● Given the importance of education and child nutrition, the creation of explicit links with governmental social programs seems essential and could avoid some of the pitfalls outlined above which compromise the success of family reunification. Emergency Accommodation and Alternative Placement 1 ● Child victims of serious abuse must be removed immediately from the environment where they are and a more suitable environment for them must be found in the short to medium term until a more permanent solution is found. ● Currently, IBESR first calls upon CAD and Foyer l'Escale, as well as other authorized centres, for the metropolitan area. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● The CAD, in Ganthier (with a capacity of 75 children) and the Foyer L'Escale at La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (a centre specializing in the care of child domestic workers, with a capacity of 40 children) are working at full capacity and IBESR sometimes has difficulty in finding accommodation. ● Although designed as transitional centres, the children 1 75 Another transitional sometimes remain for a relatively long period of time (one centre in Fonds year, or more), in part because the children want to finish Parisien set up by their school year. World Vision has ● They would like IBESR, with which they have an already had to close agreement and which refers children to them, to help due to lack of funds. them cover their costs75. 76. The CAD does ● Several organizations have premises used for short stays not accept children (such is the case for SOFALAM, with 10 beds, and FMS over 14. For l’Escale with six available rooms); the age limit is set at ● According to more than one participant, it is often 16 for boys, and 17 particularly difficult to find places for older children and for for girls. those needing extra care, such as pregnant girls76 . In the long run, most institutions aim for the reintegration of 1 see “Family the child in his family of origin, preferably with his own Reunification” above parents, or with members of the extended family ● One of MAST's priorities is to increase the State’s 1 capacity to provide full support for girls and boys separated from their families and which cannot be returned to their families; ● MAST currently has two centres in Delmas 3 and in Carrefour with a capacity of 160 and 350 children, respectively. Work is under way to more than double the capacity of these centres and the Ministry is seeking funding to build new transitional houses in Jacmel, Les Cayes and Cap Haïtien. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Moreover, Restavek Freedom has a 1 . home in Delmas for 15 girls who suffered extreme violence and had to flee. ● The organization is currently building another home in South Haiti for 16 or more children. ● Other options of accommodation have been considered, such as independent homes for youth aged 14 or over - a solution that is provided for in the Child Protection Code that awaits approval from the appropriate authorities. Foster Family Measures 1 ● Faced with the need to develop an alternative to the institutionalization of vulnerable children, IBESR and UNICEF, together with several other partners, have collaborated to develop measures for foster families, which have been formally approved by MAST. ● A one-year pilot program (April 2014-March 2015) is being carried out with a hundred families in the South region and the Goâve region by IBESR and Terre des Hommes. ● This solution is intended for short-term stays and also long-term stays. ● This new approach responds to a need and has several advantages including its low cost and durability. It has been implemented in Europe and elsewhere. ● The process requires a large investment in terms of time needed for the child’s identification and the monitoring of families; ● given that no payment is offered for accommodating children (although this involves a real cost to be borne by the foster family), families must have their own means in order to qualify. ● several of our interlocutors expressed concern over the 1 fact that despite no payments being made by IBESR to the families, their main motivation may still be nevertheless of an economic nature. ● According to the regulations already in place, foster families can apply for economic aid if they suffer a personal crisis, such as an unpredictable setback Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● several interviewees raised the issue of the weakness of 1 the evaluations conducted by the staff of IBESR despite their training. ● Without proper monitoring, there is a danger that foster families measures become a new route for the placement of child domestic workers with the approval of government and a domestic labour recruitment structure with the State’s approval. ● . Consequently, it would be important to have certain preconceptions assessed by an independent institution. This should be done initially after a period of one year, and three years after. Referral Mechanisms 1 ● No institution is able to handle all the needs of these children (direct care, medical care, psychosocial and legal help, etc.) and that is why referrals to specialized services are essential. ● In the absence of common standardised operational procedures, each institution tends to try to find the necessary support where it can, based on the services available in its area of intervention. ● World Vision, for instance, has established partnership agreements with both public and private institutions; Terre des Hommes Lausanne has nurses that accompany the children to the health centres, sometimes providing financial assistance for the purchase of medication. IOM refers directly to two institutions funded by the organisation: CAD and Foyer l'Escale (the second specializes in the care of former child domestic workers). ● These two bodies, in addition to offering temporary accommodation for children, provide schooling and medical assistance, and refer – when appropriate the children to specialized medical centres such as GHESKIO. ● Regarding health care, the actors usually find solutions to 1 problems that arise, at least in Port-auPrince. IBESR, for example, refers cases of children requiring treatment to the General Hospital (HUEH) and SOFALAM sends the children to APROSIFA (a clinic close to its premises), The MSF Hospital and HUEH. ● For referrals in cases of sexual abuse, the situation also varies from one region to the next. Terre des Hommes Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Lausanne refers to MSF in the West and to l’Hôpital Immaculée of Cayes in the south. ● In Jacmel, on the other hand, despite the presence of 1 Fanm Decide, a Haitian NGO that provides support in cases of rape, one of the participants thinks that the referral of cases is done with difficulty. ● In one of the visited areas, the hospital does not examine rape victims without a requisition from the Prosecutor’s office, and an officer of the court refused to give the document, thus stalling the case. ● The lack of housing for emergency accommodation, 1 (see “Emergency particularly in the provinces and for cases perceived as Accommodation and more complex (such as pregnant girls or older boys) has Alternative been reviewed above) Placement”). ● The Foyerl'Escale mentioned the lack of access to the services of a psychologist as a hindrance preventing them from offering psychosocial activities for children. ● To ensure more systematic referrals, it is necessary to develop formal referrals networks, made official preferably through agreements on a ministerial level (as is the case for medical certificates for violence against women, delivered according to a protocol binding the Ministry of Public Health, MCFDF and MJSP). Government Social Programs (Ede Pep) 1 77. According to The social programs implemented by the government are not EMMUS -V (Republic explicitly aimed at eliminating child domestic work but are of Haiti, 2013), 11.5 % intended for several categories of vulnerable people. of the population is Known under the title of Ede Pep, these are a set of aged between 5 to 9 social protection programs. years-old, while 12.3 ● Universal, Free and Compulsory Education Program % is between 10-14 (PSUGO) : aims at enabling 1.2 million children aged years-old (23.8 % in 6-12 to attend school without the basic costs (about half total), nearly 2.5 of the children in this age range in the country77). million children aged ● Qualitative interviews conducted as part of another phase between 5 to 14 of the study also revealed that families with very limited years, with a total resources (such as those living in the IDP camps in population of about Port-au-Prince)are unable to find a subsidised place 10.25 million in 2011. through PSUGO or are reluctant to come forward 78. A farmer because they cannot afford to buy shoes and school interviewed in Seguin supplies. as part of the qualitative research Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Even with the school canteens, the required daily associated with this participation seems a deterrent for some families with study raised this several children, thus assimilating them as disguised constraint. He must school fees78. pay 10 HTG (US $ 0.22) per day for each of his three children, which amounts to a considerable amount to be paid in cash each week and which exceeds his resources, especially since farmers' incomes are very erratic. ● Ti Manman Cheri: a cash transfer program, targeting 79 Contacted by 100,000 mothers in order to enable them to keep their phone, 5.20.14 children in school. Women receive HTG 400, 600 or 800 80 Although only the per month ($ 9, $ 13.50, $ 18) depending on whether most underprivileged they have one, two or three children in a school belonging households are taken to the Universal Free and Compulsory Education into account, this Program (PSUGO), for one year. figure still remains low ● According to the Minister of State for Human Rights and given the total number the fight against poverty, women use these transfers not of households in Haiti, for consumption but to start commercial activities that which would be about allow them to rise from poverty79. 2.3 million in 2011 ● However, the aid received does not reach all the families according EMMUS V in need of support (400,000 according to the Minister80). (the average size of a It remains to be seen to what extent the beneficiaries household is 4.4 manage to sustain these gains beyond the 12 months of persons and with a the grant. population estimated at 10,250,000 ) . ● Kore Peyizan : seeks to increase the production 1 capacity of the agricultural sector (through the distribution of seeds, goats, fishing kits, fertilizer subsidies, etc.) valued at 1,850 HTG ($ 41) per beneficiary. 100,000 people per year are expected to benefit from this program with a total budget of 508 million HTG ($ 11,29 million). ● Kore Fanmi: is an initiative led by the World Bank and 1 81 implemented by the Economic and Social Assistance http://www.worldbank. Fund (FAES), a government agency for local org/en/news/feature/2 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data development, with the aim of promoting access to basic 013/06/20/kore-fanmi- services. improving-social-cove ● 15,000 vulnerable families were identified through a rage-for-15000-vulner survey in three towns of Plateau Central (Boucan Carré, ablefamilies-haiti Saut d'Eau and Thomassique) and three other towns in Southeast Haiti should follow (Grand Gosier, Thiotte, Anse-a-Pitre). General-purpose community workers help vulnerable families in identifying their needs and refer them to the services they need81. ● The 48 municipalities thus identified as the most 1 82 Government of the disadvantaged (red) and 70 of those at the orange Republic of Haiti level82 must be prioritized. (2014b). ● The Minister of State for Human Rights and the fight against poverty is convinced this will happen in the medium term. Data Collection 1 ● Little data is available regarding the profile of child domestic workers supported by the various programs of the interveners who participated in the interviews. However, the available figures are presented in Table 30. ● These figures show that the programs reach a majority of girls (with the exception of Terre des Hommes, where girls account for slightly less than half), a trend confirmed by other interview participants. Moreover, children aged between 10 to 14 years-old appear to represent the bulk of children in care. ● Monitoring and state data collection mechanisms are weak and do not allow to distinguish between the different vulnerabilities faced by children, who are sometimes manifold. It must nevertheless be pointed out that an initiative, supported and funded by UNICEF, is underway that will vastly improve this situation. ● An analysis of the tools used for the collection and management of data from IBESR and BPM has already occurred and the two institutions are currently finalizing the definitions used, taking into account those used in the Criminal Code. Table 30 Profile of children in domestic labour 1 supported by some interveners ● IBESR, number of child domestic workers received (2013) Total :243 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Gender ○ Male:68 (28%) ○ Female:175 (72%) IOM, family reintegration (2005-2013) Male <14 ,614 (32%) Male 14-17 ,132 (7%) Male 18-24 ,13 (1%) Male Unknown ,15 (1%) Male All ages ,774 (40%) Female <14 ,885 (45%) Female 14-17 ,228 (12%) Female 18-24 ,17 (1%) Female Unknown ,40 (2%) Female All ages ,1170 (60%) Total <14 ,1499 (77%) Total 14-17 ,360 (18%) Total 18-24,30 (1%) Total Unknown ,55 (3%) Total All ages ,1944 (100%) 147 ● Restavek Freedom, direct aid beneficiaries (year not specified) Total :670 (100%) Gender ● M:262 (39%) ● F :408 (61%) Age when entering the program ● 2-5 years old:3.3% ● 6-9 years old :22% ● 10-12 years-old :37.3% ● 13-14 years old:21.8% ● 15-17 years old :12.7% ● 18 and over:2.9% Terre des Hommes, child domestic workers received by the protection programme (April 2010 – Dec. 2012) Total :50 Gender ● M:26 (52%) Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● F :24 (48%) ● <10 years-old:16 (32%) Age ● 10-13 :14 (28%) ● 14+ :20 (40%) Area ● Cayes :43 (86%) ● Grand Goave:7 (14%) Schooled ● Yes :18 (36%) ● No :32 (64%) Identification criteria ● Ill-treatment/ abuse :33 (66%) ● Social:2 (4%) ● Psychological :1 (2%) ● Family :14 (28%) Resources 83 This is only however a partial Funding: picture. During our ● The big steps forward made by the protection system in interviews, information recent years have been made possible thanks to the on budgets and external funding mobilized after the earthquake on funding sources were January 2010. not always made ● However, the demand only deepens based on efforts available to our made by the reinforced structures (presence of IBESR consultant. and BPM in the 10 departments), while financial resources become increasingly scarce. ● Table 29 and Table 30 below summarize the funding identified in recent years for activities related to child domestic workers 83 . Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Today it should be noted that almost all of the funding for 1 84 For this analysis the sector comes from outside the country (the US in we have considered particular). With the exception of UNICEF, the main donor internal trafficking as is the J / TIP US State Department, which has invested akin to child domestic more than $ 4,4 million in the fight against internal labour. As we have trafficking since 200984. noted elsewhere, the ● The IOM is the principal recipient, having received a total relationship between of $ 2,042,000 since January 2009 but now these funds these two concepts have been reduced to $ 250,000. remains to be clarified. ● The recent outreach work by IBESR, and by BPM to a 1 lesser extent, was made possible largely thanks to UNICEF funds. ● Despite receiving subsidies from UNICEF, IBESR and BPM both show a fund deficiency for their operation and for the achievement of their activities. ● Faced with this situation, several non-governmental actors, active in child protection, have ceased or reduced their interventions. Some international NGOs such as CRS, IRC and SCF, have been forced to cease their activities in this area. ● Therefore, many organizations with relevant experience, 1 85.As such, the ASR are seeking funds to continue their activities. They are system may face a thus engaged in a tacit competition for funds that are conflict between its becoming increasingly rare85. mission of dialogue and advocacy as well as the role it has taken of funnelling individual funding (for example only 4 of its members have benefited from funds made available by CWS for school reconstructions). . We do not exclude the fact that these two Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● The situation is not the same for logics may come together but this is not organizations that are able to mobilize automatically the funds directly (such as Restavek case. For this reason, the adopted Freedom or Beyond Borders, for fundraising strategies, example), but they face a potential although not a major tension between a choice of strategies concern in the context of this report, are that appeal to donors, on the one hand, nevertheless of and those that, on the other hand, meet interest. the needs of the target populations86 ● Most non- state actors operate on a fixed-term projects 1 87. After our interview (usually 12 to 36 months) that are not easily renewable. we learned that IOM ● They also often depend on external aid. Right now, Foyer will be providing new l'Escale, one of the two main centres that provide shelter limited funding for the to children referred by IBESR for emergency Foyer l'Escale accommodation (and the only centre specializing in boys allowing it to remain and girls in domestic labour) is threatened with closure87 open for a few months. Material Resources 1 ● By putting a vehicle at their disposal, UNICEF has helped 1 each IBESR and BPM departmental team become operational. ● According to the information we have collected during visits outside of Port-au-Prince, the employees of both agencies are facing a lack of working equipment. Human Resources 1 ● In 2009, IBESR was present in only 4 departments while today there are offices in every department - with the exception of the West - with 7 employees, including one coordinator and 4 protection agents. ● Currently, their reduced number and their concentration in the capital of each department systematically prevent them from reaching the population located in the most remote areas. ● Several international organizations (UNICEF, IOM, IRC, 1 88. The PNH Terre des Hommes, AVSI) have helped in the training of contributes to a small percentage of certain Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data IBESR employees on topics such as a psychosocial costs (4 to 6 % for approach, juvenile law, minimum standards of care, etc. certain administrative ● On the other hand, the salaries of the fifty or so agents costs , and 3 to 50 % assigned to BPM are covered by the PNH but virtually all for certain salaries). operating costs are supported by UNICEF88 ● However, among the reasons given by various interlocutors, what prevents them from being more effective is primarily the lack of staff and resources. ● Several representatives of the Haitian civil society 1 expressed difficulties in finding a psychologist (Foyer l'Escale, among others) because of the cost of the fees. ● SOFALAM was able to hire one as part of its program funded by Terre des Hommes Lausanne through a project of the European Union. Table 31 Donors for current programs / projects aiming at 1 the protection of children and child domestic workers Line/Project :UNICEF Project/Funded Institution :IBESR Project/Funded Institution :BPM Funded Partners :Nil Number of beneficiaries :Nil Duration :17 months: Aug. 13 – Dec. 14 Total project amount (USD) :$963,424 (HTG 43,354,068) Total project amount (USD) :$202,797 (HTG 5,492,700) Line/Project: USAID Project/Funded Institution:The Futures Group/AKSE Funded Partners :Maurice Sixto Foundation Awareness-raising on the issue of child and juvenile domestic work in schools and communities of Carrefour Feuilles et PétionVille Number of beneficiaries:Nil Duration:4 months: June – Sep. 2014 Total project amount (USD): $25,000 Line/Project:European Union Project/Funded Institution : European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights: ● Combite pour la Paix et le développement Alternative for a community without child domestic workers ● Terre des Hommes Lausanne Protection and promotion of Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data children’s rights in the South department Funded Partners : LATI Number of beneficiaries :250 children 15 teachers 10 parents Number of beneficiaries :215 children 7060 adults Duration:12 months: 2014-15 Duration: 24 months 1.1.14- 12.31.15 Total project amount (USD) :$95,000 (€75,000) Total project amount (USD) :$424.300 (€333,172) Social and human development Investing in People ● AVSI ● Valè timoun yo – Public/Private partnership for the protection of armed gangs of children and other cases of violence in Haiti Funded Partners : IBESR JILAP Number of beneficiaries :700+ victims of child abuse; Number of beneficiaries :400 families of victims of child abuse; 2.400 students Duration:36 months 11.1.13- 10.31.16 Line/Project :US Department of State, J/TIP 1 89 haitingoaidmap.org Project/Funded Institution :IOM Funded Partners:CAD Foyer L’Escale Sources: project Number of beneficiaries :150 child trafficking victims /restavek documentation Duration :9 months Sep. 13 – May 14 provided as part of Total project amount (USD):$250,000 this study, http://www.state.gov/j/t ip/rls/other/2011/1751 Line/Project :Chaine de Bonheur 02.htm Project/Funded Institution :Terre des Homme Lausanne Project/Funded Institution :Terre des Hommes Suisse Funded Partners :SOFALAM Funded Partners :Foyer Maurice Sixto Number of beneficiaries :Direct: 255 Indirect: 4410 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Duration :24 months 1.1.14- 12.31.15 Total project amount (USD) :$448,025 Line/Project:Foundations/dons Project/Funded Institution :Beyond Borders Project/Funded Institution :CWS Funded Partners :Foyer Maurice Sixto Funded Partners :Lime Lavi Funded Partners :FOPJ Duration :2014 Duration :2014 Total project amount (USD) :$321,750 Total project amount (USD) :$369,522 Line/Project:Equitas Group Project/Funded Institution :CWS Project/Funded Institution :Limye Lavi Restavek Freedom Beyond Borders Project/Funded Institution :Bethany Christian Services Global Capacity building for organizations working against restavek89 Funded Partners :ASR Funded Partners :ASR Duration :14 months 10.1.13- 12.31.14 Total project amount (USD) :$100,000 Total project amount (USD) :Unavailable Partial TOTAL (Current protection projects/programmes targeted at child domestic workers and other vulnerable groups) Total project amount (USD) :$3,279818 Partial TOTAL (Current projects/programs directly targeted at child domestic workers) Total project amount (USD) :$1,241272 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Table 32 Donors for recent programs / projects aiming at 1 Sources: project the protection of children and child domestic workers documentation Donor:UNICEF provided as part of Project/ Funded institution:IOM Combating child trafficking in this study, Haiti: reinforcement of the capacity of IBESR and BPM and http://www.state.gov/j/t providing return and reintegration assistance to 500 restavek ip/rls/other/2011/1751 children 02.htm Funded partners :CECODE CAD CASODI OPEE Horizon Vert ATM GRAHDEL Zanmi Timoun Number of beneficiaries:500 children Duration :15 months: Dec. 10 – Feb. 12 Total project amount (USD) :$788,341 Donor:US Department of State, J/TIP Project/ Funded institution:IOM Funded partners :CAD Foyer L’Escale Duration :Jan. 09 – Jan. 10 ,Dec. 11 – Nov. 12,Dec. 11 – Dec. 12 ,Jan. 13 – Sep.13 Total project amount (USD) :$315,000 ,$250,000 ,$750,000 ,$477,000 . Project/ Funded institution:IRC Fighting Child Trafficking Channelled through Haitian Orphanages Number of beneficiaries:50 victims of trafficking (restavek) Duration :19 months 9.30.12-4.30.14 Total project amount (USD) :$750,000 Project/ Funded institution:Heartland Alliance Funded partners :FMAS Duration :Jan. 11 – Jul. 12 Total project amount (USD) :$250,000 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Project/ Funded institution:International Association for Women Judges Duration :Jan. 11 – Jan. 14 Total project amount (USD) :$650,000 Project/ Funded institution:Anti-Slavery International/Free the Slaves Freedom for Haiti’s Children: community action to end slavery locally and nationally Funded partners :Limye Lavi Duration :Jan. 11 – Jan. 14 Total project amount (USD) :$700,000 Project/ Funded institution:Warmath Group, LLC Duration :6 months Total project amount (USD) :$50,000 Project/ Funded institution:Terre des Hommes Suisse Funded partners :Foyer Maurice Sixto Total project amount (USD) :$108,000 Conclusions : 1 ● This chapter describes the range of actors that have been mobilised on the issue of child domestic workers in Haiti. ● This commitment reflects a substantial willingness on the part of the State, the international community and the Haitian civil society to take action to resolve what is a major social problem. ● The issue of child domestic workers requires a multidisciplinary response (protection, education, justice, health care, etc.) ● Based on this, the government should develop a clear policy on the subject that can be implemented through a multi-sectoral plan, developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. ● A solid legal framework on the issue of child domestic labour, which has been lacking for a long time, is being gradually established. The new law on trafficking and the anticipated approval of the new Child Protection Code are milestones in this direction. However, a number of weaknesses and ambiguities still persist. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● A greater challenge is to ensure the proper application of the law and the strengthening of the institutional framework in order to make sure that the rights contained in the legal instruments are being respected. The judicial system suffers from chronic procedural and administrative failures. ● The training of judges (including Justices of the Peace) and the State prosecutor in children’s rights and issues of child labour is absolutely necessary and should be accelerated. UNICEF is currently supporting the salaries of IBESR’s 1 Fafo 2015 decentralized social workers as well as operational costs. The situation is similar for BPM, as the United Nations agency pays the civil workers and covers basic expenses. Family reunification should not necessarily be the preferred 1 answer, for reasons discussed in previous sections. Family reunification is expensive, requires close monitoring and is not always successful, especially in the case of older children. Another solution would be autonomous homes for children of 14 1 years and older. ● Several Haitian organizations have chosen to offer 1 teaching adapted to the needs of child domestic workers. ● On the other hand, more emphasis should be put on a quality professional training, which would offer prized marketable skills to children who would otherwise have a very little chance of escaping the cycle of poverty. ● Access to school, sorely lacking in rural areas for a very 1 long time, for reasons of cost and distance, is gradually becoming easier thanks to PSUGO, thus eliminating one of the main factors that encourages parents to send their children into child domestic labour. ● The other government social programs could also contribute to improving socioeconomic conditions of rural households, from which originate most child domestic workers. ● If all the key players come together and mobilize the resources at their disposal, the reality of tens of thousands of children could be transformed. Based on these conclusions, the institutional study suggests 1 the following recommendations: Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 1. The government, under the leadership of MAST should develop a multisectoral national policy to address the issue of child domestic labour based on a thorough understanding of its causes, manifestations and consequences. 2. Reactivate the Sectoral Table on child domestic workers with a high-level government participation alongside civil society and international organizations to develop a national action plan on child domestic labour. 3. The government should commit to funding the bulk of the action plan through the Treasury, then invite donors to complement these investments. 4. The 2003 Act on the prohibition and elimination of all 1 forms of abuse, violence, ill-treatment and inhuman treatment against children should be amended to include sanctions in cases of noncompliance. 5. Include in the revision process of the Labour Code provisions guaranteeing the rights of domestic workers and children in particular. The minimum age for child domestic labour should be clarified and the list of hazardous work should include domestic labour. 6. MAST and other actors should undertake a media plan in order to clearly inform a wide range of actors (including the media) on the definitions of the different categories of child domestic work according to legal standards (minimum age for youth employment, the number of legal work hours at different ages, other working conditions, hazardous work situations and situations similar to slavery (i.e. the worst forms of child labour) in which no child should find himself in. 7. Haiti should ratify ILO Convention No. 189 on workers and domestic workers 8. The State should bear the costs associated with the departmental offices of the social workers of IBESR by integrating them into the Republic’s budget. 9. The HNP should gradually take over the costs associated with BPM’s activities (including the salaries of civil servants) to ensure the sustainability of its services and ensure that their staffs have the necessary resources (work environment, transportation, equipment) to carry out its task 10. Clarify the different responsibilities of MAST, IBESR and BPM for the inspection of domestic work in general, and particularly that of child domestic workers and ensure Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data these agencies have a warrant granting them the power to control all public and private areas, including private homes. 11. Accelerate the training of members of the judiciary on children’s rights and child labour, including members of the Prosecutor’s office and judges of all levels, including Justices of the peace. 12. Facilitate the prosecution of cases of abuse and exploitation of child domestic workers by making legal assistance available to the complainant as well as providing support throughout the entire process. 13. Extend PSUGO until it is available to all children in the country who could benefit from free basic education and evaluate its implementation to ensure there are no hidden barriers during enrolment and retention of the poorest students. 14. Orient government social programs towards vulnerable households with dependent children, by developing identification criteria as well as referral and appropriate monitoring tools. 15.Promoting access to free and relevant professional 1 training to child domestic workers of a legal working age, along with post-training assistance in order to help find employment in decent working conditions or to start a small business. 16. Conduct as planned the evaluation of the foster care system after one year of implementation in pilot departments, in order to ensure that the principles on which it is based are respected. This assessment should be repeated on a regular basis. 17.IBESR should experiment the model of autonomous homes for teenagers in order to assess its relevance in the context of Haiti. 18.Develop protocols to ease referrals between MAST / IBESR on the one hand, and MSPP and MJSP on the other, as well as provide training for the staff of these institutions so that they understand its usefulness for children having suffered from violence or exploitation. No Data 1 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data 8 Conclusions and recommendations 1 Michel Cayemittes 1 ● This report on child domestic workers in 2014 in Haiti is an analysis of the overall findings from the research project on the Haitian child domestic worker. ● The overall aim of this study is to enable policymakers to develop a common program, in line with socioeconomic realities, the institutional environment, and national and international legal frameworks. ● Findings in this report are based on : ● statistical data from a nation-wide household survey carried out in September 2014, reflection from a qualitative fieldwork carried out in Haiti in September 2014, an institutional study that included fieldwork in Haiti, and a recent review of academic literature and policy-related works on child domestic work and labour in Haiti. ● The research defines “child domestic workers” based on relative workload, educational performance and parent-child separation ● Consequently and based on the criteria of age and separation with the biological family, 80 percent of children below the age of 15 who live away from their parents, can be consider as child domestic workers. ● In Haiti twenty five percent (25%) children 5-17 years of age live separated from their parents. Most of these children (21%) live together with relatives, while the remaining four percent live with non-relatives. ● Differential treatment and exclusion from educational 1 opportunities affect children’s situation and their feelings of self-worth. Verbal reprimand from their employers is a source of denigration for child domestic workers, and they experience this as more denigrating than many forms of corporal punishment. ● The proportion of boys in rural areas is higher than the proportion of boys in urban areas because of their participation in agricultural work. ● The study points out that in general, boys tend to move to shorter distances than girls since girls are more likely to move to urban areas to take up domestic chores in houses. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Concerning wealth issues, households that have child domestic workers score higher on the wealth index than households that have sent children away during the past five year. ● With regard to poverty, children 10 years old and over often look for work in order to pay for their own schooling. ● Representations of child domestic workers used to fall 1 into two categories: ● a stigmatizing label of slavery, and curtailments of children’s freedoms homogenizing different practices VS child rearrangement solutions that grow out of rural poverty, high fertility, and parenting stress and weakening of the caretaking structures in the larger lakou residential units ● The reasons for child domestic work in Haiti covers multiple needs and reflects many motivation: ● the need for relief of upkeep of children among parents, for labour in receiving households, for investment in future security for receiving households , and children’s need and wish for an education and better lives. ● In conclusion, when we compare the situation of children living with their biological parents to the one of so called CDWs, the study depicts a general picture of all children in Haiti living in difficult conditions. ● . The actors in charge of child protection (state, national and international NGOs) need to give full attention to all categories of children. ● The policy needs to be understood by everyone, so they 1 know the consequences of mistreatment of the child. ● The study shows that behind the term "child domestics", there are a number of different realities or definitions: ● There is a group that can be considered as “non-admissible cases” which are children under 15 years old or above 15 years old working children in a worst form of labor or near slavery. The data from this study suggests that only a small minority of children among the CDW could be classified in the “slavery “category.For those cases there needs policies to be implemented to eliminate this form of child labor. ● There is another group considered as “eligible situations” requiring regulation and control of the work authorized for children over 15 years. Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● And finally there is the group considered as "normal" in the cases of placement situations based on family solidarity (Haitian tradition). In those cases the treatment of the children "placed" and the biological children, would need control visit by social agents of these traditional and non-formal foster care. ● Based on the results of this study, the technical committee has developed a series of recommendations in addition to those developed by FAFO. ● The main objective was to develop recommendations that are feasible and in line with the realities faced by child protection actors in Haiti. ● Moreover, these recommendations are the basis for the development and the implementation of a common road map between the different actors working on the issue of child domestic workers. Appendices 1 Annex 1: Participants and sites/persons met during qualitative fieldwork Annex 1: Participants and sites/persons met during 1 qualitative fieldwork Annex 2: Participants interviewed for the institutional study 1 ● Interviews conducted in Port-au-Prince Annex 2: Participants interviewed for the institutional study 1 Annex 2: Participants interviewed for the institutional study 1 ● Interviews conducted in Jacmel ● Interviews conducted in Cayes / Grand Goave Annex 2: Participants interviewed for the institutional study 1 ● Interviews conducted in Gonaives ● People contacted by telephone Annex 3: Interview guide used during institutional study 1 ● Guide d’entretien avec les Responsables/Points Focaux Protection de l’Enfant ● Introduction et consentement éclairé Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Annex 3: Interview guide used during institutional study 1 Conclusion 1 No Data 1 Annex 4: Some definitions used by NGOs in Haiti 1 Annex 5: Terms of reference 1 Annex 5: Terms of reference 1 Annex 5: Terms of reference 1 ● Objectif général ● Objectifs spécifiques Annex 5: Terms of reference 1 Annex 5: Terms of reference 1 ● Tâches du consultant / prestataire ● Résultats escomptés ● Qualifications Annexe : définitions 1 Annexe : définitions 1 Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 ● Ratifiée par Haïti le 19 juillet 2007 ● Recommandations Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 ● Cadre règlementaire Annex 6 Recommendations of Technical Committee after 1 presentation of results in Port-au-Prince June 24-25, 2015 ● Recommandations RECOMMANDATIONS ACCES AUX SERVICES 1 ● Recommandations MSPP ● Recommandations IBESR ● Recommandations MAST 1 ● Recommandations Ministères de la Justice ● Recommandations Syndicats ● Recommandations ONG 1 ● Recommandations Bailleurs RECOMMANDATIONS IDENTIFICATION – PRISE EN CHARGE ● Recommandation pour la prise en charge: 1 ● RECOMMANDATIONS SENSIBILISATION - MESSAGE RECOMMANDATIONS QUESTIONS TRANSVERSALES 1 ● Recommandations sur l’approche/ stratégie 1 ● Recommandations sur la communication ● Recommandations sur le renforcement des capacités ● Recommandations sur la participation ● Recommandations sur la coordination Report Haiti Child Domestic Workers 31072015 (Restavek) Tabular Data ● Recommandations sur la ressources 1 humaines/budgétaires ● Recommandations sur les Données, Suivi et Contrôle References 1 References 1 References 1 References 1 References 1 References 2