Danielle Romer, president of Haitian Support Inc. in Homestead, recalled one 15-year-old girl whose experience showed why restaveks don't reach for help: "She was working am to pm, not going to school, but where she sleeps is better than what she had in Haiti."
Dwa Fanm, a Brooklyn-based women's rights organization, decided in 2004 not to renew a federal grant for services directed at Haitian restaveks because the 20 women who came forward did not want to register as human trafficking victims. Registration would have allowed them to apply for asylum or specific visas to stay in the US.
"As soon as we said, 'You have to report it, we have to report it so you can be certified,' they said, 'Never mind, I've changed my mind,'" said Farah Tanis, the group's executive director. "They didn't want to prosecute. It makes sense — people are afraid for their lives."
