Human trafficking and tattoos are closely linked, with many survivors leaving exploitation bearing permanent marks that remind them of their experience. One United States study of 40 organizations that provide services to survivors found that up to half of those exiting trafficking have tattoos or brands.
Although the practice is not as prevalent in every other country, The Exodus Road has consistently encountered trafficking-related tattoos in the cases they work. In one Latin American case, a general tattooed his name on the teenage girls whom he was trafficking. As part of their healing process, The Exodus Road paid for the girls’ tattoo removal.
Tattoos can be very normalized in the sex industry, which provided evidence in another case in Thailand. A teenage boy had his birth year tattooed, helping investigators build a case that he was underage and could not legally be offering sexual services to anyone.
As the knowledge that tattoos and human trafficking are connected has grown, so too have the related myths.
I am a fairly highly tattooed individual myself, which has given me a particular interest in watching how exploitation and tattooing can be connected. So many survivors of trafficking have shown me their marks, making me aware how privileged I am that most of my tattoos were chosen. It prompted me to track down the facts and dispel the myths about tattoos and human trafficking.
Why do victims of trafficking get tattoos?
While someone who has experienced trafficking is actively being victimized, there could be several reasons that they get a tattoo.
1. A trafficker forces a tattoo or brand to imply ownership.
This is probably the most commonly understood reason that someone being trafficked would get a tattoo. Traffickers might coerce someone to get a tattoo of their name or gang signal. They also might force a tattoo signaling to others that a person is for sale.
Branding, whether through tattooing, scarring, or burning marks into a survivor’s skin, can also be a psychological tactic. Being marked by someone in that way creates a mental and emotional tie, a sense of inferiority and fear. This may make it even harder for someone being trafficked to leave.
2. A person experiencing exploitation gets a tattoo in the desire to belong and feel accepted.
Gina Jernukian founded Soul Survivor Ink, a national network of over 80 tattoo removal and cover-up partners offering services to U.S. trafficking survivors. Gina generously shared her expertise with me for this article, answering my questions about what she’s seen as her organization has offered healing for thousands of survivors’ skin.
“For the most part, someone would think that when someone gets branded, they’re pinned down. But at the time, they actually often willingly do it,” Journegan told me. “It’s like they earned it through the lengths they went to in order to get this branding. It’s this ‘I’m part of the family’ feeling. When they realize it was trafficking, it’s a whole new trauma all over again.”
Tattoos can be seen as a sign of status within trafficking operations and crime rings. For a survivor desperately trying to make sense of their situation and seek safety, a tattoo could be perceived as an honor. Only later, after the trauma bond fades and autonomy is restored, do they have space to fully grasp the truth of their dehumanization.
3. An individual gets a tattoo as a natural part of being in a lifestyle where tattoos are prevalent.
Tattoos have always been closely associated with a culture of drugs, sex work, weapons, and other potentially illicit activities. Many drug houses have amateur tattoo equipment present. Someone might get a tattoo simply in the process of being in these settings.
I saw this firsthand when talking with a 14-year-old survivor of trafficking in the Philippines. She was admiring my tattoo of a rose winding down my outer wrist when she showed me her hand, which was marked by a stick-and-poke smiley face and a few stray letters and symbols. To the best of my knowledge, these were not symbolic of anything other than a culture of confident, predatory men who marked their bodies in acts of self-determination — and then pressured a young girl they were trafficking into the same.
What are common trafficking tattoos?
Many myths circulate on social media about what tattoos indicate trafficking. There are certainly some general trends in the kinds of tattoos traffickers use. However, these exact same tattoos are commonly used by people who are not victims of any crime.
According to Gina, some of the most common tattoos and brands that the artists in Soul Survivor Ink’s network find include:
- Dollar signs
- Trafficker’s names
- Gang signs
- Crowns
- Language around loyalty
- Xs
- Tear drops
- Faces with a date above them
- Hearts with a date above them
Placement may be important. Tattoos might be particularly prominent, such as on someone’s face, neck, or hands. Conversely, tattoos might be near a victim’s privates or cleavage as a kind of blatant advertisement. Anecdotal evidence and reporting from other nonprofits support the prevalence of these signs.
But again, other individuals might get these tattoos for totally innocuous reasons. How do you tell if it’s just an odd tattoo choice or the sign of a life-and-death crisis?
How can you recognize a trafficking tattoo?
Gina told me to look at patterns of tattooing instead of getting too stuck on the details.
“If it’s one or more girls getting the same tattoo, dig deeper. If it’s an older person bringing in a younger girl. If she’s super quiet,” Gina says earnestly.
Gina was inspired to start Soul Survivor Ink when she was working as a permanent makeup and paramedical tattoo artist. She started noticing multiple girls getting the same very specific tattoos.
“8 years ago, a bunch of girls had the same tattoo on their neck: Mr. Peanut,” she recalls. “When it’s the same one over and over, it doesn’t make sense.”
Another consistent red flag that a tattoo might indicate trafficking is when the piece was clearly very poorly done. Many trafficking tattoos are done quickly and by amateurs. That means that they will have shoddy line work, lose color and ink quickly, and be simplistic or lack real shading or detail.
In general, a young person who already has a multitude of tattoos could be a red flag in itself, especially if some of those tattoos fit the descriptions above.
When identifying a tattoo symbolizing trafficking, it can also be helpful to look for other signs on the skin.
“As the largest and most outward-facing organ in the human body, the skin often bears the earliest and most visible signs of violence and exploitation,” as one study puts it.
Those signs could include bruising, infections, scarring from either others or self-harm, needle track marks, and more. The skin tells a story that goes beyond just tattoos.
Are you less likely to be trafficked with tattoos?
In recent years, a story has emerged online that getting tattoos might stop you from being targeted by a trafficker. This theory suggests that if you have identifying marks, a trafficker is less likely to try to control you, since you might be more easily traced.
There is no hard evidence to support this. In the United States, about a third of adults have tattoos. As tattoos have become increasingly common and culturally accepted, they are unlikely to be any kind of deterrent for a trafficker. This is especially true given that most traffickers are exploiting someone they know, versus targeting and abducting someone at random. Existing tattoos are likely to be irrelevant as a risk factor for trafficking.
What can tattoo artists do to prevent trafficking?
Increasingly, states are enacting legislation to require tattoo artists to receive anti-trafficking training as part of their licensure. In Tennessee, which has often been a leader in anti-trafficking initiatives, the Ink of Hope Act was recently passed to formalize the requirement for at least an hour of training.
For years, tattoo artists have begun to recognize the signs and spread the word on a grassroots level.
“We get to form a relationship with the people that we tattoo,” tattoo artist Jesse Neese told NPR. “So even during that brief period, we can talk to them a bit and at least kind of get a gauge of, you know, whether their world is OK or not.”
Austin Rosenberg told WSAW the same thing, expressing horror at the way such a meaningful art form can be warped. He said, “It’s super foul. It hurts my heart to think about it. You’re taking away the human factor of this person and creating them into an object.”
Because of the chance to have long conversations, one of the best things tattoo artists can do is ask questions and gather information if something seems off. Especially as the session progresses, it’s usually possible to subtly ask about living situation, how safe someone feels, their physical wellness, and more.
“Those can be uncomfortable questions,” offers Rosenberg. “But it’s an extra step that you can take.”
Tattoo artists can also have human trafficking awareness materials and the hotline posted somewhere in the shop where it’s visible, notably in the bathroom, where a client might have a moment of privacy to quickly make a call or send a text. It may also be worthwhile for artists to find out what emergency services exist in their area so that they can refer survivors if the conversation progresses to disclosing trafficking.
Most importantly, tattoo artists can ensure that their studios feel like safe, accepting places. Those hours in the chair might be a rare moment of normalcy for someone who is being exploited. It’s a chance to offer them compassion, even if they don’t end up exiting trafficking at that precise moment.
Can trafficking tattoos be removed?
Removing tattoos that were a result of exploitation can be transformative. One study found: “On a scale of 1–10 with 10 being the most impactful on recovery, removal of branding tattoos received an average impact score of 9.2.”
That impact can be incredibly practical. One survivor, who Cronkite News names as Natalie Grace, woke up one day during her exploitation with tear drops tattooed on her face. It made it hard to find any other kind of employment.
Grace said, “I want them completely removed. I’ve 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. It’s time to wipe my tears.”
Sometimes, total removal is not possible, despite it being the gold standard in assisting survivors’ recovery. But cover-ups are often an option where removal is too difficult.
The emotional impact of removing these tattoos can be even more profound. Late survivor leader Jennifer Kempton told The Guardian, “Knowing that when I walked out the door I’d have replaced that sign of evil with something that was beautiful and full of life and hope: I knew I was going to set myself free, and man, that was a great feeling.”
Jennifer Kemptom spent the final years of her life operating an organization that covered tattoos for survivors. Many of those cover-ups were transformative both inside and out.
Survivor Erica told The Guardian, “It was freeing myself from bondage. It’s the best thing I ever did. I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”
What they choose as a cover-up may in and of itself be deeply symbolic of recovering selfhood, such as Hollie who got a tattoo of a flower blossoming into a butterfly. Art like this can redeem scars as well as tattoos and brands. Survivor Ruthie had a burn scar from her trafficker punishing her with boiling oil. Now, she has her children’s names and a cross tattooed there instead.
Gina says that Soul Survivor Ink sees as many as 1,000 – 1,500 survivors needing services in any given year, most of them in their 20s with a whole life still ahead of them — a life that can be changed forever by removing the marks of trafficking. She has witnessed over and over again how transformative it is when the process of covering up is complete.
“I have a Freedom Wall in my office. It’s a big tree, and when we finish the laser or tattoo project, they put handprints on the leaves on this tree,” Gina recounts. “The weight is off their shoulders. That part of their healing is done. It can’t fix everything, but it can fix what they see when they look in the mirror.”
She continued, “One survivor told me she felt childlike. She had this euphoric feeling of control. I believe it was innocence restored.”
How can you help?
Learn what common trafficking tattoos are and, more importantly, what kinds of patterns or accompanying behavior might be a warning sign of human trafficking. Whether you’re a tattoo artist, a friend, or just a person who notices something unusual about a stranger, view potential trafficking tattoos as a reason to gather more information and call the Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888) or 911 if you have adequate cause for concern.
You can also invest in organizations like Soul Survivor Ink to ensure that survivors have a chance at a new start at no cost to themselves. Their website includes a long list of affiliate locations where you can receive help if you are a survivor yourself, as well as a scholarship application page.
Together, we can ensure that the signs of trafficking are not a life sentence.
All images in this article are representative to respect the stories of survivors.
