Domestic Violence is very rampant in the world. Be it Physical abuse or sexual abuse. These abuses sometimes leaves a permanent scar on the skin and for those women these scars act as a way to remind them of those horrific days for the rest of their lives. To help such women, Tattooist FlaviaCarvalho has started a project called ‘A Pele da Flor’ (The Skin of the Flower), which sees her inking over victims’ scars free of charge, covering reminders of knife, bullet and more injuries with designs of their choosing.
.The project was inspired when a client requested a tattoo to cover a scar on her stomach. “She told me that she was at a nightclub, and when she turned down a man who approached her, he stabbed her with a switchblade,” Carvalho recalls.
“When she saw the finished tattoo, she was extremely moved, and that deeply touched me. I was suddenly struck by the idea of providing free tattoos to women who were left with scars following domestic violence or mastectomies.”
A tattoo disguising a scar left by a bullet.
“I run the project alone, since no other tattoo artist has expressed interest in participating. I started the project quite recently, and I had no idea it would receive this much media attention. It began very spontaneously. My services are a hundred percent voluntary, and the only ‘cost’ women need to invest is to choose a design for their tattoos! The feedback I have gotten from women who were helped by this project has been extremely surprising,” she says. “The sense of affection, sisterhood and camaraderie is deeper than I ever imagined.”
Tattoo disguises the scars left by Mastectomy
Carvalho has also inked women suffering from varicose veins.
Another tattoo covering a scar on the abdomen
A tattoo on the thigh covering a scar
Tattoo disguising a scar that was left after stabbing a broken glass above the knee
By: Archa Dave
