Tatooed ladies
Tatooed ladies have long been cause for hilarity and the butt of jokes.
But it's no laughing matter if you bear your ex's name on your body in this humiliating and shocking form: I am the property of John. I am owned by John. I belong to John.
Some are small, some enormous... in letters two inches high and half an inch wide which have been forcibly tattoed on different parts of a woman's body.
These are victims of domestic violence whose appalling past is literally skin deep, a constant reminder they bear every day they see that tattoo.
And that's why I am rejoicing that their rescue lies in the hands of a Sunderland man, Barry Crake, a tattoo removal expert.
Barry, a micropigmentation technician, has offered to remove these horrible tattoos from women in Wearside Women In Need refuges free of charge.
While there are others who had their former partner's name tattooed on themselves when they were in love with him, there are those who were forced to have it done.
I was appalled and so too was Barry, 38, whom I applaud for having a heart for these women.
When he first made the offer he had no idea that some would have been made to have such terrible tattoos of ownership marked on their skin.
As Clare Phillipson, boss of WWIN told me: "It is very, very difficult for them to walk away from their past when every time they look at their body slavery is written all over their body."
"And having somebody who is sympathetic makes all the difference. It is very difficult for a woman to have to go to a GP for a referral to get the tattoo removed because they have to go through it all and explain that they have been a victim of domestic violence and feel incredibly stupid and that it's their fault and people say 'You should have said no.'
"To have someone sympathetic will make a huge difference to their sense of humiliation and failure. I think it's a great idea. "
Barry is over the moon to help and admitted: "I've gone all tingly because it's going to mean so much to me. I thought it would just be a name but now you've told me it's more than that I just want to help them get it removed."
His technique involves putting a cream onto the tattoo which has a chemical designed to draw the ink out of the skin.
A scab forms and when it drops off so does the tattoo.
More than one session may be needed and while it can cost 80 a session the fact is what he will restore to these victims of domestic violence is their esteem, self-worth and freedom. And that's priceless.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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