The FTS Blog provides a platform for dialogue about how slavery affects communities around the world—and what can be done to eliminate it.
Jisika Jean Claude was only 10 when her father sent her away to live with another family. She thought she would go to school, but was forced instead to do chores, iron and wash clothes, and care for other children as a household servant. It was not the life she was promised. She had become a Haitian restavèk child slave.
“My life would be different today if I was not in restavèk,” she says. “I wanted to be a doctor but read more >
Beyond Borders and FTS staffers gather in Washington and Port-au-Prince for signing of agreement to create the United to End Child Slavery alliance.
Beyond Borders and Free the Slaves are proud to announce a new programmatic alliance designed to strengthen the effort to protect Haitian children from enslavement as domestic servants. The two organizations are combining their Haiti field operations into a joint program called “United to End Child Slavery.”
Each year, thousands of impoverished rural Haitian parents send their children to live with families in distant cities, in the hope that the young girls and boys will be afforded an opportunity read more >
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is working to integrate anti-trafficking efforts into America’s development projects around the globe. That’s because modern-day slavery can reduce the success of international development efforts.
USAID officials in Washington turned to FTS this week to learn if our programs to combat child slavery in Haiti and Ghana might provide examples of successful anti-slavery work that could be duplicated worldwide.
FTS Haiti Country Director Smith Maxime began the briefing for USAID staffers and others from the read more >
Guerda Constant has been the director of our partner organization in Haiti, Fondasyon Limye Lavi, since 2009. But her passion to defend vulnerable Haitian children and eradicate systems of slavery began long before that.
Guerda has years of front line experience working with Haitian Street Children, Children in Bondage and other local and international nonprofits. She is a natural leader, with degrees in economics and psychology.
She’s now taking her battle to the Internet, launching a new blog read more >
It’s back-to-school time for many Free the Slaves supporters. That means it’s a perfect opportunity to reflect on the importance of educating a child. I thought I should share with you the observations of our development director, Lori Fitzmaurice, from her recent trip to our front line anti-slavery program in mountain villages near Jacmel, Haiti. Free the Slaves provides access to schooling for Haitian children who are survivors of domestic servitude, as well as those at risk of enslavement.
read more >
Slavery has been illegal in Haiti longer than anywhere else. Yet the enslavement of children as domestic servants through the restavek system of child trafficking continues to plague the nation. The Walk Free Global Slavery Index estimates more than 209,000 Haitians are in slavery today, many of them children. That makes it the world’s second-worst hot spot for per-capita slavery.
But there is good news to tell. Haiti’s parliament and president have recently enacted a new anti-trafficking law.
”After about read more >
Haiti’s devastating earthquake hit on January 12, 2010. It affected everyone in Haiti, and continues to affect those who lost friends and family as well as homes and businesses.
While significant money and effort have been marshaled to rebuild, much remains to be done. Solving one of Haiti’s most important human rights challenges must remain a priority. Impoverished families are vulnerable to child slavery.
The 2013 Walk Free Global Slavery Index lists Haiti as the world’s second-worst spot for slavery read more >
Smith Maxime is usually high in Haiti’s rural hills, where many poor families choose to send a child away to the city to work as a domestic servant. His job as FTS Haiti Director is to help stop the flow of children.
But yesterday, Smith was on Capitol Hill in Washington for a congressional briefing. His goal there: build awareness that many children sent to work away from home in Haiti wind up in slavery. Also: let the U.S. human rights read more >
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Free the Slaves has been part of the global humanitarian response, and caseworkers report they’ve reunited nearly 1000 children with their families. Many were in slavery, and others were at high risk of falling into slavery.
Under the entrenched restavèk system of slavery, poor families send a child to a wealthier home, hoping they’ll receive food and an education. In reality, most kids end up as household slaves.
After the earthquake, thousands of unaccompanied children read more >
COVID-19 is threatening to overtake villages in the Dominican Republic because government aid is not reaching immigrant laborers of Haitian origin or descent in trafficking hot spots. Our special Go Fund Me campaign will provide masks and food to victims and the vulnerable.
Many businesses will match your contributions or allow you to make tax-exempt contributions directly from your paycheck. Call 202.580.7668 or email narit.gessler@freetheslaves.net for help. Free the Slaves has been approved by the Combined Federal Campaign for U.S. government employees. The number is 11482.
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