New York City is giving youth who have been sex trafficked or involved in gangs a fresh start with a free gang tattoo removal pilot program out of the Administration for Children’s Services.
The NYC agency announced the launch of the program this week, called the NYC Child Tattoo Eradication Network. The initiative is meant to help young New Yorkers heal from trauma and move on with their lives after escaping from traffickers or gangs.
Gang leaders and sex traffickers sometimes tattoo young people, according to the Administration for Children’s Services, with symbols like “dollar signs on their faces, pimps’ names on their chests or backs, or gang names on their hands or bodies.”
When these young New Yorkers escape that situation, they often don’t have the resources to remove the tattoos and start fresh. Removing these brandings can help these youth heal from their trauma and well as open up employment opportunities, experts say.
Administration for Children’s Services Stepping Up
A 2017 NYC Safe Harbor Program report identified just under 3,000, New York City youth as sex trafficked or at-risk for trafficking — a 21 percent increase from the year prior. This bump shows the need for even more services that help this vulnerable population, Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner David A. Hansell says.
The idea for the tattoo-removal program came after the administration learned of a teen whose pimp’s initials had been tattooed on her forehead.
The Administration for Children’s Services Office of Child Trafficking Prevention and Policy will operate the program in which medical providers will offer their services pro-bono.
“No young person should be forced to go through life with a permanent mark of exploitation and abuse on their body,” Hansell said in a statement. “The NYC Child Tattoo Eradication Network will be a completely confidential program designed to limit the trauma inflicted on these children by abusers and gangs.”
