The Worse Pandemic

Have you ever come across one of those Facebook posts that asks, “What is your biggest fear?”

Other than the obvious ‘death of a loved one’, most people put spiders, heights, or a common answer, clowns.

But mine has always been the same: kidnapping; abduction; human trafficking.

I​ would feel strange with how obsessed over this fear I was. I blamed my constant state of paranoia on my parent’s forcing me and my sister to watch America’s Most Wanted every Saturday night when I was growing up (I guess they were hoping to instill major awareness into us as kids).

Did you know that programs like that taught us that if we were kidnapped and put into a trunk, we should bust out the back light and wave our hand out the opening to alert other drivers? Or that we should run to a mother with children if we were in danger, never a police officer? The logic behind that one was women were more trustworthy than men, but that has since been disproved since women are just as likely to be guilty of such crimes, especially in luring children with this ‘trusting’ factor. It makes one wonder: how are children supposed to know who to trust? In which ways are we helping our children to be prepared and safe today?

These were things I was constantly thinking of though, in case I was ever taken.

When I became a mother, my fears only grew as I thought of my child(ren).

In these last few years, I questioned whether these fears were over-the-top and conditioned into me or obvious reality.

I​ realized they were more of a reality than I knew.

• Between 18,000 and 20,000 victims are trafficked EVERY YEAR in just the United States alone (fightthenewdrug.org)

• In 2017, 71% of human trafficking victims were women and young girls; the remaining young boys and some men (safehorizon.org)

• In 2017, 4.8 million individuals were trafficked for the sole purpose of being exploited sexually; 'only' one-fourth of that percentage were children (safehorizon.org)

• In 2018, that one-fourth percentage involving children increased to more than half; 51.6% (dosomething.org), and has only been increasing still to this day

With everything going on in the world today, there are so many conspiracy theories out there. You are welcome to believe in any of them you choose.

H​uman trafficking is NOT one of those theories.

H​uman trafficking, child trafficking, is a fact and it’s happening right in front of us.

It needs to fucking stop. Enough is enough. #SaveOurChildren

B​ig energy love,

A​sia, The Colorful Writer

T​o learn more, check out: #SaveOurChildren groups/posts on Facebook or search 'human trafficking blogs' online

T​o contribute to awareness, visit: polarisproject.org

F​or help, visit: humantraffickinghotline.org

T​o provide more resources/updates to this page, email: [email protected]