Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have unveiled a new campaign against child slavery, the restavec system, in earthquake-ravaged Haiti to ban the unethical practice whereby a child is sent to work as a domestic servant for another family as a means of supporting themselves. The couple underlined that this unofficial system of slavery prevents youngsters from gaining an education and experiencing their childhood.
The stars have used their Demi and Ashton Foundation to sponsor a pledge to encourage members at a United Nations meeting on Wednesday to donate to Haiti and call for the restavec system to be banned altogether.
Moore and Kutcher stressed that in supporting the Haitian people recuperate from the recent earthquake one must not “forget about the 300,000 children that are enslaved.” Moore added that “Any human being enslaved is unacceptable. As long as one is enslaved, then we are all enslaved. It’s an atrocity to stand by and let this happen.”
For full article, see http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=617911
Photo and a fascinating article on the plight of the restavecs (by Kim Pearson) at http://www.blogher.com/battling-child-slavery-haiti