Chris Baker: Tattoo Artist Helps Ex-Gang Members, Human Trafficking Victims Erase Past

The idea of free tattoos came from his former warehouse employees. “They would say, ‘I wish I could get rid of my tattoos. I’m tired of getting judged,'” Baker told ABC News.com. “And I decided that’s my calling.” (Lisa Baker)

Source: ABC News

Survivor of sex trafficking covers painful past with tattoo

 

“The healing never ends,” said the survivor, whom Fox 12 is identifying as Sara. 

She allowed Fox 12 to watch as she received a new tattoo from Adorn Body Art in Beaverton Thursday.  It’s a tattoo to symbolize freedom, strength and growth, which covers an old tattoo of her former pimp’s name, which he branded on her skin.

She was forced into the lifestyle at age 17 by a man she met while working at a local department store, a job she held while waiting to begin school at PSU.

“I actually worked in the suit department, measured suits for men. A gentleman came in there quite often to get suits, and he was just amazing,” she said.

Sara says he invited her to a dinner party but instead took her to a house in Portland where her nightmare began.

“I thought that night after multiple rapes by his friends, I thought by the morning that was the end of it, but in morning when I woke up, everything out of my purse was gone.”

Leaving the lifestyle wasn’t easy, out of fear for her life and the lives of her loved ones.

“In my case, they showed me pictures of my sister, getting into her car, walking out of her apartment…When they showed me pictures, they said, ‘She’s next,’” described Sara.  “Even if my mom called, he would get a gun on the table, set the phone on the table, put it on speaker, and just watch me as I talked to her.”

(Natalie Brand for Fox12 Oregon)

(Source: http://www.kptv.com/)