Tattoo-Removal Service Helps ‘Branded’ Women Break Free

Some tattoos are not choices, but painful reminders of abuse and human trafficking. (Photo: Stocksy)

Tattoos may be having a moment with the fashion set, but for some women, getting inked is not only done without their consent, but provides a constant reminder of a painful past. That’s the case for some survivors of human trafficking, whose tattoos are not declarations of self-expression, but the very opposite: branding, meant to mark them as someone else’s property.

Now one laser center — the Beautologie Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center in Fresno, Calif. — is trying to help such women reclaim their identities by removing these tattoos free of charge. And there’s already a waiting list for the service.

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Of the approximately 3,000 children who run away from home in the Fresno-area each year, between 10 to 12 percent wind up being trafficked, according to the Tri-City Herald. Law enforcement in the area says that the majority of these young people are initially approached by a pimp who poses as a romantic interest, bringing them into what seems to be a relationship, and then suggesting prostitution as a way to earn income for the two to begin a life together. Soon, however, the trafficked individual learns that her boyfriend is in fact her pimp, threatening her life and using violent coercion to maintain the involuntary sex work, for which she winds up receiving none of the profits herself.

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As a CNN report this fall explained, pimps will “brand” their trafficked “property” to steer other pimps away. The story noted that law enforcement is only seeing an increase of tattooed branding in recent years. The marks range among symbols of the pimp’s choosing — his name, bar codes, symbols for cash — all chosen with the intent of dehumanizing the victim, and reinforcing the message that her life is not her own. Such tattoos often appear on the arms, backs, legs, faces, breasts, eyelids, and genitalia of trafficked individuals.

Some women, after become free, save up to have their tattoos reimagined into new designs of their own choosing. To help, an organization in Columbus, Ohio, called Survivors Ink raises “scholarship” money for just that purpose, as having a tattoo covered up can cost hundreds of dollars.

Having one removed completely — through laser technique — is more costly, as well as incredibly painful. One technician reports that it’s even more excruciating than receiving a tattoo itself. After the procedure, a patient can expect inflammation and swelling, and occasionally skin irritation and blistering. Traditionally, laser tattoo removal centers charge by the square inch (usually about $75 per square inch of the tattoo), per session; technicians says that a 4 x 4-inch tattoo takes somewhere between six and a dozen sessions to remove. In other words: Without the gratis service in California, it can be a costly burden on someone who’s also struggling emotionally to overcome abuse and trauma.

As one laser-removal client and trafficking survivor being serviced at Beautologie puts it, her branded mark is a reminder “that I’m not really a free person, even though I’ve accomplished so much since then,” she says. “So each treatment, it feels like slowly those ties are coming free.”