Tattoo Removal For Sex Trafficking Victims Offered Free

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Suffolk County took a major step Friday to help victims of sex and human trafficking heal from their devastating pasts.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone joined with law enforcement officials and members of the Suffolk County Task Force to Prevent Family Violence to announce a partnership with Dr. Scott Blyer, a plastic surgeon with Cameo Surgical Center, to help human and sex trafficking victims removals tattoos for free, "to remove painful reminders of their past," Bellone said.

The unveiling of the initiative came on Friday, which is dedicated as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

“No one should have to live with a permanent mark on their body that reminds them of a violent and abusive time,” Bellone said. “This new partnership brings us one step closer to helping victims of these heinous crimes recover and live a life with dignity.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini agreed. “We can’t undo what has happened to survivors of human trafficking, but we will continue to connect them with victim advocates in my office and with the outstanding service organizations in Suffolk County. Now, with this new program, we can also try to erase the physical reminders of the horrific trauma they’ve endured," he aid.

Sini's goal is to do everything in his power to arrest and prosecute traffickers to prevent further victimization, he said.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was implemented to raise awareness among Americans that human trafficking does not just happen in other countries, but in states and communities across the United States, according to Bellone's office.

Cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 U.S. States — and, according to the release, it is estimated that between 20 to 30 million men, women and children around the world are victims of human trafficking. Trafficking affects all communities and people, regardless of race, class, education, gender, age, or citizenship, Bellone said.

To that end, victims of human and sex trafficking are often marked or branded with tattoos ranging from the name of the trafficker, their initials, a rose, or a crown, to symbolize a traffickers' ownership over a victim.

The removal of the tattoos helps survivors of human trafficking in the recovery process, officials said.

Sex and human trafficking is very much present on Long Island, Laura Ahern, founder and executive director of Parents for Megan's Law and the Crime Victims Center, told Patch.

Removing the tattoos, she said, can be life-changing.

"I think that's a really critical part of the healing process a human trafficking victim can go through," she said. The tattoos, she added, bring back memory of trauma and the terrible experiences they endured while being trafficked.

The Crime Victims Center, she added, was one of the first organizations to help establish the human trafficking advocacy program in Suffolk County; advocates from the program go into the courts with other agencies and are assigned cases where individuals have been forced into the sex trade.

There have been successes, Ahern said, where advocates have worked closely with women who may have been struggling with drugs and been trafficked by pimps who kept them addicted "and forced them into prostitution."

The goal of the organization, she said, is to work hand in hand with other agencies to find survivors housing, drug treatment facilities, educational and employment programs, "and to bring them out of that life and give them the opportunity to live a productive life. So many people need so much help."

Many caught up in the horror of sex trafficking got involved "by no choice of their own," Ahern said. "Maybe they were taken from another country, or they had a tough upbringing and got drug addicted and pushed into a life of prostitution. It's absolutely horrible — the stories are heartbreaking. And no one should be the judge of another person until you've walked in their shoes."

Ahern also thanked Bellone for his steadfast support of victims' services programs.

Moving forward, member agencies of the Suffolk County Task Force to Prevent Family Violence will provide Dr. Blyer’s practice with referrals of victims seeking to have their tattoos removed.

Tattoo removals will be provided free of charge, on a first come, first serve basis.

The Suffolk County Task Force to Prevent Family Violence seeks to educate and protect victims, increase public awareness, and help to prevent family violence, including intimate partner violence and abuse and neglect of children, adults and elders, in Suffolk County.

In 2017, Bellone said, the task force formed a human trafficking committee, which has forged alliances with hospital networks and the SCPD's Suffolk County human trafficking unit to best understand the complex issue and advocate for the implementation of policies to serve the victims.

In order to combat human trafficking in Suffolk County the Suffolk County Police Department launched a human trafficking investigations unit, the first of its kind on Long Island that "has led to record levels of human trafficking and sex crimes arrests," Bellone said.

Sini's office has a companion unit that includes prosecutors assigned to the district attorney’s human trafficking team. Suffolk County’s human trafficking court also connects victims to counseling, drug treatment and job training.

“Every day we perform surgeries that transform patients’ lives and give them an approved self-confidence," Blyer said. "I cannot imagine the amount of courage it takes for someone to change the trajectory of their lives and leave a situation like the one being discussed today. Even after they make this huge step in their life, they still have to look in the mirror and see scars and tattoos reminding them of their horrific past."

On Friday, Minerva Perez, executive director of Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, discussed the new tattoo removal plan: "We think the initiative is great as long as the victims are not forced to become a source of information that might put them at further risk," she said. "Removing tattoos is great act of support but we need to see support that reaches into communities showing the support starts before they become victims. Those who are most vulnerable need to feel and see there is support, advocacy, therapy, safety and understanding in our community via the known and trusted avenues," she said.

Perez added: "Those avenues need to address the very real ways trust breaks down, such as lack of communication with non-English proficient people . . . When we rupture trust, we widen the gap for vulnerable folks to fall prey. Let's work on the gap and make sure our existing systems are strong and accountable."

On the East End, the "hidden crime" of human trafficking was spotlighted in September at a critical seminar in Southampton.

"Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States. It is estimated that human trafficking generates many billions of dollars of profit per year, second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime," a release announcing the event said.

In addition, organizers said, human trafficking is a "hidden crime," as victims rarely come forward to seek help because of language barriers, fear of the traffickers, and fear of law enforcement.

Traffickers, organizer said, use force, fraud, or coercion to lure victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

Innovations HTC is a human rights organization working to eradicate sex and labor trafficking throughout the nation, with a goal of raising awareness to prevent human trafficking and ensuring that frontline professionals are trained to identify and effectively respond to trafficking victims.

There is a great need to address the issue in tribal communities, organizers said, with Native American women, girls, and boys all vulnerable.

In addition, the issue is critical amongst the immigrant communities on the East End, organizers said.

The conference focused on not just raising awareness, but also focus on identification and effective and culturally-appropriate techniques for first responders, as well as an understanding of victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches to identifying and supporting victims.

Patch photo courtesy Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's office.