Human Rights Campaign
20 years of fighting modern slavery
Wisland, 13 years old, was mistreated for years by a relative in Port au Prince, Haiti, who had taken her in because her mother could no longer support her. Wisland's mother had hoped her daughter would get an education and a better future in the capital, away from the hard countryside existence. Instead, in exchange for board, the little girl fetched water for the family, cleaned the house and dishes and carried the heavy merchandise the woman she lived with sold on the street.
Eventually, one day in 2010, a neighbour noticed that Wisland was not attending school and she signed her up for the Foyer Maurice Sixto, a non-governmental organization (NGO) supported by the UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery that offered her food and schooling and where she finally felt safe. Wisland was what is commonly called a 'restavek', or literally translated 'stay with', child in Haiti. 'Restavek' children are under the age of 18, usually from poor rural areas, who are placed by their parents in the care of a slightly better off family in the city. The family accepts to take care of the child in exchange for domestic help. However, many of these children live in conditions which have been described as a contemporary form of slavery by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Gulnara Shahinian.
2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Voluntary Fund which was created to support NGOs that help victims of contemporary slavery regain their independence, lives and dignity. Four hundred projects supported by the Fund have directly assisted thousands of victims and potential victims all around the world. Speaking at an event to mark the anniversary, Gulnara Shahinian said that an estimated 27 million people lived their lives every day in slavery or slavery-like conditions, despite efforts by the UN, Governments and civil society to end the scourge. “The main reason for this is that slavery continues to evolve and transform itself in various ways but its essence the situation or condition whereby one person is owned by another remains the same,” she said.
Source: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
