EVENT INFORMATION

4
September
2009

UN report identifies restavèk child domestic servitude as a contemporary form of slavery

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📅 4 September 2009 📍 Haiti

A UN Human Rights Council report dated 4 September 2009 followed a June mission to Haiti. Special Rapporteur Gulnara Shahinian described the restavèk system—children placed in other households in exchange for promised care, but often subjected to unpaid work, abuse, and deprivation—as a contemporary form of slavery. The report documented exploitation and urged prevention, legal reform, and protection. Restavèk is distinct from hereditary chattel slavery, but the report recognizes slavery-like coercion and child exploitation.

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People in this event

Gulnara Shahinian

restavèk children

Haitian civil society and public agencies

Organizations in this Event

UN Human Rights Council

Government of Haiti

UNICEF

ILO