Published: October 19th 2021
Last update: October 31st 2021 15:08pm
The housing office at Cal State LA are warning their residents on social media after a report of alleged pair of women wandering around on campus recruiting students into human trafficking ring. This has students worried.
Written by: Martin Wiik
Megan Burman (18) and Emily Magidina (18) explains their concerns.
This was the warning that was sent out and spread among the students at CSULA on social media.
Emily Magidina (18) is a freshman student at Cal State LA from San Francisco who moved out from her home for the first time to study pre-nursing. This warning got her feeling uncomfortable of being alone on campus especially since she lives in the student housings.
— "I don’t know the area, so definitely don’t want to be alone, especially during night time. I usually think being on campus is really safe", Magidina said.
Megan Burman (18) is also away from home. She's from Carlsbad in California and wanted to study in Los Angeles for her major in film and moved in to student housings at CSULA at the same time as Madigina. She says she has also received the warning from other students.
— "It does concern me. It’s a college campus though and there are quite a few RAs (resident assistants) and Police", Burman said. "So, I’m not too worried since I have stuff to protect myself with."
From left: Emily Magidina (18) and Megan Burman (18)
She describes herself as always being afraid of walking by herself so this warning doesn’t make it feel better.
— "I usually try to have one person with me", Burman said.
This is not the first time the warning has been sent out, according to senior students at school.
John Espinosa, a senior student at the school, told us that he's seen such warnings before.
— "Yes, these rumours or stories come and go every now and then", Espinosa said.
While we tried to get in touch with students at Cal State LA about this issue, Elisa Quiroga, an international student from Madrid, came forward. She told us that she had experienced such incident back home in Spain. She was walking home when a girl stopped her and wanted to chat. Quiroga thought this was just a friendly girl that just wanted to find someone to hang out with, she soon figured out that this wasn't her main intention.
— "I'm more careful now with talking to strangers. If it happens again I would be more scared and concerned than I was the first time", Quiroga said.
The student housing office declined to comment on the matter and directed the questions to Cal State Los Angeles Department of Public Affairs. Associate Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs, Jocelyn Stewart, said they had received an anonymous inquiry about this incident. She explained that the Public Safety department hasn’t received any reports of individuals on campus soliciting the students for sex trafficking and has uncovered no evidence of solicitations.
— "The health and safety of our students is the University’s highest concern. If anyone is aware of such solicitations we urge them to share this information directly with the Department of Public Safety", Stewart said.
Emily Magidina showing us the student housings
Several students are taking countermeasures to protect themselves if they need to. Magidina said that a lot of students have bought a pepper spray, just in case they need it.
— "I feel like a lot of people do never leave without a pepper spray" she said. "Especially if they are going somewhere, like alone off-campus. Even just walking on campus alone at night. For some people that didn’t have one before this, probably have one now".
