Human Rights Activist to Discuss Slavery in Haiti, New England

By UCF Staff Oct. 12, 2009

Micheline Slattery was forced into slavery as a child in Haiti and later in Connecticut.

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Micheline Slattery, a human rights activist and former slave in Haiti and the United States, will speak Thursday, Oct. 15, at the University of Central Florida.

Slattery will give a presentation entitled "21st Century Slavery: Living Proof" at 2 p.m. in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Slattery was born to a prominent political family in Haiti. After being orphaned at age five, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a nearby town. As often occurs among rural families in Haiti, Slattery was forced to work as her extended family’s servant, or restavec, which loosely means child slave.

Beginning from the time she was five, Slattery was expected to clean the house, wash and fold the laundry and walk for miles to collect water. If she failed to complete all her chores, her relatives beat her. She still bears a scar on her left cheek from the time her cousin struck her across the face with a butcher knife.

At 14, Slattery was trafficked to Connecticut to serve as her cousin’s slave, performing domestic chores and taking care of several children. She never received compensation for her work. It took several years before she was finally able to leave and resettle in Massachusetts, where she now works as a nurse.

Slattery recently began speaking out. She has testified before the Massachusetts State Assembly and has been featured by New England Cable News, Boston Metro and The Hartford Courant.
 
Sponsors include the UCF Global Perspectives Office, UCF Political Science Department, UCF International Services Center, UCF Women's Studies Program, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

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