Dawn Maestas runs a tattoo-removal business in Albuquerque, N.M., and her clients include women who want the names of abusive partners removed.
Some of them have been tattooed forcibly, like the 22-year-old client who visited StoryCorps with Maestas.
“I was with a guy for five years. He was much older. He was really abusive toward me. After a while when I tried to finally end it, he kidnapped me, held me hostage and tattooed his name all over my body against my will,” says the woman, who did not want to be named.
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