Two Wichita Women Arrested For Human Trafficking

Yes, Kansas, you read that correctly. Wichita is a big hub for human trafficking. Tinique Anthony and Ashley Bowman, two accused perpetrators, are now both in jail.

Diana Shunn, of the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County, recommends awareness and communication to help fight this type of crime. Assuming that "those things don't happen in my neighborhood", or "those things don't happen in the country" or "in Kansas" only puts more children in danger.

The allegations against Anthony and Bowman have to do with the prostitution and sale of victims who are under age. Wichita and Kansas City may not seem like prime locations for this, but both of those cities feature networks of highways that connect to interstate routes that will quickly and easily take drivers almost anywhere in the United States. This provides not only an easy escape route, but a quick and practical way to move a kidnapped child out of the area before the police have even had the chance to refuse assistance to distraught parents on the grounds that they do not bother with "runaways". Despite the myth generated by law enforcement that runaway children are safe, runaways are prime targets for human trafficking. So are children with disabilities, latchkey children, and, statistically, bullying victims. Children who have been left behind after school activities by inattentive teachers are also prime targets. Yes, a guidance counselor in Frankfort, Kansas actually did this. The school tried to keep the incident quiet, and described the teacher as an "asset" to the school when the parents complained. The only way such a teacher could be an asset is if the school had arranged a "deal", involving a vulnerable child.

Of all the cities in the United States, Wichita, Kansas, is among the top five cities in the United States for the origination......that means recruiting and kidnapping.......of human trafficking. That is not a wonderful reason to be famous, Kansas. The guidance counselor in Frankfort never did explain why he left a fourteen year old girl by herself on the highway, four miles away from Frankfort. Some strangers stopped and gave her a ride back into town. The school board of USD 380 (Frankfort and Centralia) felt that Tom Schroeder's action of forcing a child to accept a ride from a stranger was appropriate, and he was told by an attorney not to respond to any questions about the incident.