Gina Jernukian was working part time when she began to notice something in her tattoo studio that made her uneasy.
I started having strange tattoos and strange men in my studio, she said. I mean, I was taken aback. They were rude. They were mean. The girl didnt speak at all only the guy did, and he would yell at me.
So I finally asked someone, What is this? And a friend of mine said, Its probably a branding. I said, What? I had no idea. I had no idea. I didnt know.
Jernukian, a permanent makeup artist who lives in Phoenix, decided to find out more. She did some online research and attended meetings of groups that were all too familiar with branding the practice of tattooing or marking sex trafficking victims, mostly women, with the names or symbols of those who victimize them.
Over half of sex trafficking survivors have a branding mark that affects their mental health and impedes their healing and reintegration into society.
A 2022 study that surveyed over 80 survivors in the U.S. showed they rated the need and impact of free laser-removal services at a high level for recovery.
Many victims are branded by their traffickers with tattoos conveying ownership, including names, symbols, and barcodes, researchers wrote. We believe there is a greater need at a national level to support these survivors, allowing them to reclaim their bodies.
Jernukian refused to continue being inadvertently complicit. She founded Soul Survivor Ink, a national nonprofit organization that helps survivors of human trafficking find providers near them who can cover, remove and lighten branding tattoos. The service has expanded to 39 locations in the U.S., with several locations in Arizona and Texas.
Removing the evidence of trauma is a complex and usually costly process. Jernukian and her partner artists do so for free.
Although there are organizations that help survivors, Jernukian said that branding removal is an area that is neglected.
Some of the first things that programs will do is get them medical treatment, dental, housing, food, clothing, Jernukian said. Theyll sign them up for school, some counseling, meditation, but one thing they dont offer is branding removal or cover-ups. So even though theyre starting to heal on the inside, theyre still not healed on the outside. They have to look at this every single day, and it brings them right back to where they were.
Traffickers mark skin as a message
There were more than 10,360 cases of human trafficking, involving 16,710 individuals in 2021 alone, according to the most extensive sex trafficking data sets in the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Experts say that is likely only a fraction of the true number.
According to the Polaris Project, a nationwide organization that combats sex trafficking, nearly 75% of sex trafficking victims are women. Although data is difficult to come by, various sources estimate that up to half of victims have been branded by their traffickers.
Sometimes the women are branded with a tattoo, and sometimes, Jernukian said, the trafficker can take a knife and carve a symbol on their head or on their body. And then, even going further than branding, sometimes theyre burned.
Tattoos are usually black and white and common themes are money and loyalty, according to Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, director of the Sex Trafficking Intervention Research office at Arizona State University. The markings can be prominent on the victims face or neck to send a message to the victim and the world.
But sometimes its hidden; its near their body, their private parts that is really a message to buyers or other traffickers, she said.
Not only do traffickers use branding as a way to show ownership, said Roe-Sepowitz, but for the victim, theres also the psychology of I belong to him. This is a connection that feels very real. And her trauma bond with him is deepened by the tattoo or the brand or the scarring.
As a permanent makeup artist, Jernukian had the skills to help, so she reached out to local organizations in 2014 and said, Hey, this is what I do. Send me anyone for free. Just send them.
At first, only a couple of women came to her for help. Then, she began getting calls from trafficking shelters twice a month. And it grew and grew, Jernukian said. People were driving three, four hours to come see me It started blowing up. I thought, I dont know how to do this. I dont know how to help so many people.
Then I was reminded that the Lord does not call the equipped. He equips the called. And so that was it. It took off and we founded Soul Survivor Ink.
Healing by erasing the markers of trauma
Every time a sex trafficking survivor looks at a forced branding, it can feel as if they are still in bondage, Jernukian said. Some survivors say that it physically hurts, like they can feel it, and some even try to scrape it off themselves.
But many organizations that help survivors arent aware of the significance of this kind of trauma, and how it impacts a survivors mental and emotional health, making it harder to heal.
When working with survivors, tattoo removal often feels like a bonus compared to health care, housing, and safety, Roe-Sepowitz said. But once she and others started working with survivors over time, the impact these brandings have on survivors healing became apparent.
I had a client who had a very significant, very dramatic white supremacy symbol on the back of her neck and it was impeding her life, Roe-Sepowitz said.
Still, making the decision to remove the branding isnt always a simple one, especially because so many victims are emotionally connected to their traffickers.
The Polaris Project estimates that 4 out of 10 victims were trafficked by a member of their own families or were recruited by an intimate partner or a marriage proposal.
It can be years later and still a lot of them struggle with that mental abuse, Jernukian said. They still feel like theyre betraying this trafficker or this pimp, even though its been a couple of years or however long.They still feel the betrayal. And sometimes its extremely emotional when were either covering or removing it.
Its not like, Get this off me, Jernukian said. It takes a lot for them to make that decision. Because theyre still under control of this pimp. They feel like theyre betraying him. For us, its like, Girl, go get that done. And theyre like, Not yet.
Oftentimes our clients really didnt have a huge support network and their traffickers became their families. They made them feel like they belong, Roe-Sepowitz said.. That tattoo reminds them that they belong. And even in spite of the abuse and trauma theyre experiencing, its sort of better than the alternative being alone or homeless or hungry.
Many victims werent forced to get branded, Jernukian added. They were manipulated into it. Some of the girls would say something like, You have no idea what it took to earn this tattoo. They were proud to do it.
But once theyve escaped their traffickers and have begun to heal, they look back and wonder how did I get there? How did my mentality go that far?
Wiping away tears
Natalie Grace, a 29-year-old Houston resident, connected with Soul Survivor Ink in 2022. She wants to remove two non-consensual tattoos that have marked her face since she was 24.
Grace had been seeing a charismatic tattoo artist while dealing with a drinking problem. One day, after heavily drinking, she passed out next to him.
I woke up with these teardrops tattoos on my face, Grace said, pointing at black teardrops located at the outer corner of her eyes. He just did that while I was passed out as a joke because he had them too in the exact same place. It was kind of like saying youre mine now.
She couldnt get a job, pay for food or housing. And thats what led me to being homeless and couch-hopping. Thats how I ended up in the human trafficking situation.
Her trafficker was later arrested and sentenced to prison. But the teardrops are a daily reminder of her past.
Its like a SKU number for a shoe, she said. Wherever that shoe goes, its gonna lead back to the manufacturer.
Unless Im actually wearing makeup and hiding the tattoos, its like, I cant really be myself. I have to pretend to be someone else. And its horrible.
Grace was connected with Jernukian through other survivors who had been helped by Soul Survivors Ink. Together, they are working on finding a tattoo artist who will remove the tattoo from Graces face. Before I connected with Soul Survivor Ink, I never even thought that getting them removed was an option, Grace said.
I want them completely removed, she said. Ive always been a professional and I want to be back to my old professional self. This is not me. This is not what I was meant to do.
Its time to wipe my tears.
Emerging from a branding to a butterfly
Tattoo removal takes time and can be done through different approaches. Often, tattoos are more difficult to remove than they are to place on the skin. A tattoos color, size and location, the depth of the ink, the persons skin tone and tolerance for pain all affect the process, Jernukian
If a Soul Survivor Ink artist cant remove a branding, they will try to cover it with another tattoo.
Survivors get to pick what they want on their body, Jernukian said. It might be something meaningful to them, like a butterfly. And then they could look in the mirror and see this tattoo. Thats beautiful.
Whether its covered or removed, its like this weight is lifted, Jernukian said. One of the survivors told me Is it weird if I say that I feel like a child right now? I feel childlike and giddy. Its like going back to before this was done, you know?
Soul Survivor has grown exponentially since Jernukian started it in Phoenix in 2016. It now serves women in 56 cities and 22 states.
We need to be in every state. Jernukian said. We continue to seek affiliates. The goal is to be in every state by 2025.
The organization helps fund more than 1,000 procedures a year, Jernukian said. Financial donations and volunteers time and expertise covers the costs, with no charge to victims, she said.
Artists who volunteer are reimbursed by Soul Survivor Ink for the cost of ink and needles, usually between $125 and $170 a session.
Every day, were trying to find resources and enroll more people, Jernukian said. We just need to find people that have a heart to serve. And when we do, its a perfect fit.