Is tradition an excuse for slavery?

Haiti is a small Caribbean country that occupies the western and the smaller pertion of the island Hispaniola; sharing soe of its space with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is best known for the fact that is was the first country in the Americas to Abolish slavery, when it won it independence in1804 after a struggle led by Toussaint Louvertue. However, everyday, thousands of Haitians look slavery in the face due to poverty and social breakdowns. The recent natural disaster on Haiti has made the economy and living conditions even worse.
January 12,2010 at prexisely 4:39 pm Haiti's most trgic natural disaster occured. An earthquake with the magnitude of 7.o struck the little nation bringing it to the attention of the media worldwide. One of the effects of this earthquake was the destruction of homes resulting in thousands of Haitian children being homeless. These homeless children soon became vulnerable and victims to sexual as well as domestic exploitation and abuse. It was during this time that an undercover journalist went from New York to Haiti and discovered that he would be able to purchase a ten year old Haitian girl for the small price of 150 American dollars. When he asked the traffiker if he felt selling children was morally just; the trafficker responded that it was apart of the Haitian tradition.
To some extent he was not lying; modern slavery in Haiti, in the forn of the Restavec system, is rooted in early Haitian cultural traditions. In the begginning poor families on the countryside would give their children away to wealthy families in the city; these children would then do domestic work for the families, in exchange the families would clothe,feed, and educate the children. Since then this system has morphed into something very grotesque. My arguement is that child slavery is againts what Haiti originally stood for and tradition should never be used to excuse its immorality. My plan of action is that we need to show even the poorest of families in Haiti that they alone have a duty in looking after their children, regardless of how uncertain the future may seem. If America and other powerful counrties would go in an help fund the building of more schools and help stable Haiti economically then maybe families would have an alternative choice as to where their children will stay.

Victim or Criminal?

Every day, across the globe, children are forced to work without pay as prostitutes. The psychological toll this industry has on these children is detrimental to the child’s sanity. Some children feel attached to their pimps; others find it hard to stay away from prostitution and move forward with their lives. Others reach the point of committing violent crimes.


Sara Kruzan was convicted of killing her pimp, G.G., at the age of sixteen. G.G., who met Sara when she was eleven, used a common tactic of pimps called “grooming;” he gained her trust by acting as a father figure – something Sara never had. By the age of thirteen, G.G. raped and forced her to sleep with other men for profit, while pocketing the money for himself. After three years of prostitution, Sara reached her limit and killed her pimp. When her case was taken to court, the judge tried her as an adult, rather than a juvenile. The end result was life in prison without parole.


Victims of human trafficking and similar situations who commit crimes should not be sentenced to jail time; rather, they should be psychologically evaluated and sent to an appropriate rehabilitation center. In The Psychological Trauma of Modern Day Slavery: Sex Trafficking and its Impact on the Field of Psychology in Thailand, it says “[h]uman trafficking has a tremendous psychological impact on its victims as a result of the manipulation, abuse, and cultural shock experienced when forced to work a less than desirable job…” The psychological damage that takes place is enough to drive some victims to violence, as in Sara’s case. It is evident that Sara has almost rehabilitated herself through her time in jail. She speaks of how she has changed for the better, and that she is now capable of making healthy life choices. It is arguable that had Sara been granted the opportunity to receive psychological help, she probably would have grown from the entire process. Trafficking victims (even those who commit crimes) require and deserve psychological help. Bottom line, a child as young as Sara should have been treated as a victim, not a criminal.