"The Cost of Silence: Why Haiti's Women and Children Suffer Most in Crisis"

Hello, everyone. By now, you are very familiar with who I am and what I stand for. For those who do not know, my name is Rose Mica Georges, but my community knows me as She Loves Couture. Since I was a little girl, I have devoted my life to speaking on behalf of women and children. Since May was Haitian Heritage Month, it is only appropriate to shed light on an issue I have been against for a very long time.

The crisis in Haiti is not just a political or economic emergency—it’s a humanitarian disaster unfolding in real time. And like many conflicts, it does not affect everyone equally. While the entire country suffers, women and children are paying a uniquely brutal price. As someone who is and will always be a critic of the restavek system, I’ve watched in horror as the situation in Haiti deteriorates.

For those unfamiliar, restavek is a modern-day child slavery system where low-income families send their children, primarily girls, to live with wealthier households in hopes of a better life. Instead, these children are often abused, exploited, and forgotten.

The crisis has made the restavek system even more dangerous. As institutions collapse and lawlessness spreads, gangs are using this broken system to recruit children, especially boys who have been beaten, neglected, or abandoned and ended up running away and living on the street. These boys, once someone’s son, are now child soldiers, manipulated into killing, stealing, and spreading violence.

“Young girls are often exploited in the very homes meant to protect them.”

Girls in these homes face a more extreme horror—Exploitation. A family friend, an uncle, or even the husband of the person they live with often exploits them. There is no safety net, no protection, and usually no one who will listen to their screams. The worst part is that they don’t run toward safety but to the street when they escape, resulting in many ending up as adult workers, not by choice, but by survival. It is a short path from there to human trafficking.

Meanwhile, child labor is rampant. With schools closed and families destroyed, many children, some as young as seven, are forced to carry heavy loads, clean houses, work markets, or beg in the streets. These are not childhood memories—they are traumas that will haunt them forever.

The men in Haiti are affected, too, but the trauma is different. Adult men are often targeted by gangs for control, recruitment, or elimination. But the systemic abuse of children and women is quieter, longer-lasting, and usually hidden behind closed doors.

Haiti is breaking—but it is the bodies and spirits of women and children that are being shattered in the process. Until we address the cultural systems like restavek, the impunity of predators, and the economic desperation forcing children into gangs, this crisis will only deepen.

We need to amplify these stories.

We need to fight for change.

Most importantly, we must protect the most vulnerable because Haiti’s future depends on them.