Trusting instincts and taking action against human trafficking

Jan. 10, 2024

By Kelly E. Lindner, Julien Devereux and Arlin Alvarez

AUSTIN—While working one day at TxDOT’s Gainesville Travel Information Center in 2022, Supervisor Abeer Basidiq had a gut feeling something was not right.

Two malnourished young men with a dog and a cat asked her and her staff to drive them to a nearby Walmart to buy gas and food with a $10 gift card. Trusting her instincts, Basidiq invited them into the TIC’s media center to discuss their situation privately.

Basidiq asked them questions with respect and sensitivity, and the men confided in her that they were victims of human trafficking. Basidiq then worked with victim advocates and law enforcement officials to get them the help they needed. She ran into them by chance several months later, and they looked healthy and unafraid.

“If you feel something is off, go with your first gut instinct,” Basidiq said.

Basidiq’s insight and awareness helped save these two men from a horrible situation, and it’s a prime example of how anyone can spot the signs of trafficking and report suspicious behavior. TxDOT’s “On the Road to End Human Trafficking” campaign provides education to all TxDOT employees and the public to encourage everyone to know, watch for and report signs of trafficking.

For LaViza Matthews, a TxDOT traffic safety specialist in the Amarillo area, her first experience with human trafficking was in 2004 while working as a trainer and victim advocate for Family Support Services of Amarillo.

During a shift working at the local hospital, three children had been brought in for suspected sexual assault. Seeing the kids’ mother asleep on the hospital couch and sensing something unusual about the father’s demeanor, Matthews knew something was off.

“If my kids had been sexually assaulted, I wouldn’t be freaking asleep,” Matthews said. She followed her instincts and found the nearest police officer. Her gut was right. The mother was asleep because she was high, and the father had been trafficking his own children.

Matthews was shocked that parents in her own community were trafficking their children for drugs and money, so she has made sure all her victim-advocate trainees are well versed in human-trafficking red flags.

Matthews has since advocated against human trafficking , and she continues to raise awareness in her community and in her role as a traffic safety specialist. When asked about why it’s important for TxDOT employees to be able to recognize signs of human trafficking, she said because traffickers are using our Texas roads to transport their victims.

These stories remind us that everyone can play a role in preventing and addressing human trafficking. By being vigilant, educated and “trusting your gut,” you can contribute to creating safer communities and supporting victims of trafficking.

You can learn about human tracking types and red flags by visiting our On the Road to End Human Trafficking.

Ways to report human trafficking:

• Call 911 for emergencies.
• Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.
• Report any suspicious activity to iWatch Texas by calling 844-643-2251 or submitting a report through their website or the iWatch app. 

Join TxDOT’s ‘On the Road to End Human Trafficking’ campaign by wearing blue on #WearBlueDay, Thursday, Jan. 11 this year, to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Contact TxDOT’s Human Trafficking Prevention Workgroup at HumanTraffickingPrevention@txdot.gov with your ideas about how to bring more awareness of human trafficking across our state.