Micheline SlatteryMicheline Slattery was born to a prominent political family in Jacmel, Haiti, but after being orphaned at age five, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a town nearby. As often occurs among rural families in Haiti, Micheline was forced to work as her extended family’s servant — or restavec, as a child slave is commonly known there.
Beginning from the time she was five, Micheline was expected to clean the house, wash and fold the laundry, walk for miles to collect water. If she failed to complete all her chores, for nine years she was whipped and beaten by her relatives; she still bears a scar on her left cheek from the time her cousin struck her across the face with a butcher knife. "I used to think that I was bad, that this was the life that God chose for me," she says.
At fourteen, Micheline was trafficked to Connecticut to serve as her cousin’s slave there — performing domestic chores and taking care of her three children. Her cousin permitted her to attend school — but never anywhere else — and at home, she was still a slave; she never received compensation for her work and, when Micheline took a part-time job, her cousin confiscated her wages. It took several years before Micheline was finally able to leave and resettle in Massachusetts, where she works as a nurse.
Micheline began speaking out last May. She has testified before the Massachusetts State Assembly, spoken at the International Women’s Day reception in Massachusetts alongside Dr. Swanee Hunt, former US Ambassador to Austria, and been featured by New England Cable News, the Boston Metro, and The Hartford Courant.
“It's not something I will ever feel free and comfortable talking about, but I do it because I think it will make a difference,” Micheline says. “I want people to understand that it’s happening. If they need to see a face, see mine.”
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