The Trafficking Victim Beside Me
Something was wrong, and I was powerless to stop it
Have you ever struck up a conversation with a stranger on a plane, only to discover that she’s being trafficked?
In November 2017, I completed a program evaluation in Northern Nigeria and was heading home. My 31-hour flight to Los Angeles included a long layover in Cairo, from 9 PM to 2 AM.
My seatmate from Abuja to Cairo was a petite Nigerian girl dressed in a black-specked dress and headscarf. I later learned she was 24, but her shy demeanor made me think she was an adolescent. As she struggled with the tray table, I realized she had never flown before.
Towards the end of our flight, I asked if she was visiting family in Cairo. She smiled hesitantly. No, she was heading to Saudi Arabia. I again asked her if she had family there, but she shook her head. She was going there for work. An elementary school friend had sent her a WhatsApp message about a job opportunity, and she had jumped at the chance — although really, she wanted to study fashion design. She showed me pictures on her phone of various women in bright-printed dresses. “I made them,” she said proudly.
“You don’t know anyone in Saudi Arabia?” I pressed again. She shook her head. In fact, she did not speak Arabic either. I began to…
