Young Haitian girls held as slaves in S. Florida

MIAMI - The teen slept on a rolled-up mattress on the dining room floor and bathed in the back yard with a garden hose. For six years, she washed dishes, made beds and cooked for a family that beat her and hid her in a closet when visitors arrived. She never went to school.

Simone Celestin's story sounds like a slave narrative from another century, but federal prosecutors say it happened in South Florida. They say Celestin is one of an unknown number of children and teens called restaveks, who are hidden as slaves within the Haitian immigrant community.

Restavek is a Haitian Creole word meaning "one who stays with." The term applies to an estimated 300,000 poor children in Haiti, mostly girls, who are given or sold by their parents to wealthier families, or taken from orphanages.

The children work in exchange for food, shelter and the promise of school, but often end up victims of physical and sexual abuse, according to the State Department's annual report on human trafficking.

Haitian-American advocates recall about 30 instances that have come to light since 1999, when a 12-year-old came forward with an appalling story about being a Broward County couple's household servant and a sex slave for their son.

But authorities believe those examples are probably just a small fraction of the actual number.

Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, said some Haitians view the practice as an informal foster care system.

"They may feel they were helping the little child by bringing the child here and express bewilderment that they are being prosecuted for 'doing the right thing,'" Bastien said.

U.S. immigration officials and advocates call human trafficking a hidden crime because victims do not contact police. They say law enforcement and school officials often miss the warning signs in young people, such as missing identification, isolation or behavioral problems.

Advocates say it's difficult to coax suspected restaveks to open up, even when they are identified, because they are told their work supports family members back in Haiti, and they fear relatives will suffer retribution.

Danielle Romer, president of Haitian Support Inc. in Homestead, recalled one 15-year-old girl whose experience showed why restaveks don't reach for help: "She was working a.m. to p.m., not going to school, but where she sleeps is better than what she had in Haiti."

Dwa Fanm, a Brooklyn-based women's rights organization, decided in 2004 not to renew a federal grant for services directed at Haitian restaveks because the 20 women who came forward did not want to register as human trafficking victims. Registration would have allowed them to apply for asylum or specific visas to stay in the U.S.

Fast facts

Widespread practice

WHAT IS A RESTAVEK? The Haitian Creole word means "one who stays with." It refers to poor children given or sold by their parents to wealthier families. They usually work for food, shelter and the promise of attending school.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM? The State Department says they often end up victims of physical and sexual abuse.

HOW MANY ARE THERE? The practice is widespread in Haiti, where UNICEF estimates 300,000 children are restaveks. It is unknown how many restaveks are among the estimated 14,500 to 17,500 involuntary servants who are trafficked into the U.S. each year.

[Last modified October 25, 2007, 00:59:17]