Last week, while we were all minding our own business, something unthinkable nearly happened to my close friend Veronica. It was a chilly December morning in the suburbs of San Antonio, and she was driving to work in the hour before sunrise. After stopping for gas, she noticed two men in a van tailing her closely. She drove a circuitous route to Walmart, followed turn-for-turn by these goons. They parked nearby and followed her into the store. On the phone for this whole pursuit, Veronica instructed her friend to call 911 and paced the aisles long after she had picked up what she needed. Feeling these men closing in on her, she briskly walked to the checkout. To buy more time, she asked if she could use e-coupons, instead showing the lady at the register a note on her phone explaining her situation.
The police finally arrived, listened to Veronica’s story, and arrested the two men. Turns out their van was stolen and there were outstanding warrants, so the outcome was one of justice. However, the incident took on a much darker character when the police walked Veronica back to her car and one of the officers spotted a purple sticker on her license plate. He explained that stickers like those are used by human trafficking groups to identify single women traveling alone, basically marking her as an easy target for abduction. And San Antonio is facing a growing human trafficking problem, the officers were resigned to point out that suburban areas have been experiencing a massive uptick in incidents like this.
I feel alarmed, disturbed, and outraged by how widespread, coordinated, and systematic human trafficking is at present. A 2016 study estimated there are 300,000 victims of sex trafficking in Texas alone, a number that almost certainly grew under the cover of the global pandemic. It is unfathomable that we would be losing ground to criminals who regularly kidnap Americans, strip them of their basic rights, and sexually exploit them for money. And that the most we hear about this grave and urgent issue is some clop-trap conspiracy nonsense about cabals of political elites. No, human trafficking is a real, despicable evil, and women and children are the most vulnerable.
If it’s any solace, many women have been conditioned to be on guard for situations like this, to travel in groups, to sneakily call 911 or pass notes to employees in public places when in danger. The question is, do we want our society to be every man/woman/child for themselves, or do we care enough to make systemic changes in the way our society protects women?
Worldly Observations 