OK....AGAIN (3X) Thanks to everybody weighing in. Special thanks to Igbos for coming in here and being candid and open about an uncomfortable topic.
Like I said before, on the internet....90% of the time or more..people WILL AVOID all discussions in topics unfavorable or unflattering to the group(s) they identify as. That's a concrete fact in my experience.
I hope everyone in this thread is as candid in future discussions of uncomfortable truths tied to their heritage(s).
Having said that ,"restavek" system in Haiti is very much like some of the arrangements described here which have drawn the most comments. It's part of a class system in Haiti that I don't condone or fully comprehend(or care to).
It( restavek) is an Inherently abusive exploitative system. Not based on lineage/heritage as some of what I've read described here...just on economic situation of the family the child comes from. Though with the history of the country, wealthier families will tend to be the mulatto descendants of the French planters. They would be more likely to be in position to bring in a house girl/restavek. From where I sit, it's a shameful reality especially for a place where a bloody revolution was fought to FREE human beings from bondage.
Shameful as it it is though, it is a reality. I think some here are tuning out the parts where you guys are describing the facts on the ground in Nigeria. The harsh realities that create situation where this is allowed or accepted. Very easy for me to condemn the system in place in Haiti, Nigeria, or elsewhere as inherently wrong(to me, it is). Much harder for me to suggest a viable alternative for the young children and adults who are doing it to survive. If there were viable alternatives, there would fewer (or no) instances of it occurring.
In developing countries....basic things such as free public education....or safety nets such as social services/public assistance either do not exist or are not accessible to all.FACTS. These child peonage systems, I guess provides the social safety net for the society.
It shouldn't have to be like this, though and I think we should be working towards the day when it's not like this..