Pimp-led prostitution is one of the most violent and prolific forms of trafficking found in the US, with hundreds of thousands of women sold annually for commercial gain. Many are branded with tattoos by their traffickers as a sign of ownership and control. After experiencing such an ordeal in Columbus, Ohio, Jennifer Kempton founded Survivors Ink, a grassroots project that helps formerly trafficked women to cover up their branding with their own symbols of hope and recovery. Kempton explains how she left years of abuse and drug addiction behind and is helping others to do likewise



• Full story: Tattooed trafficking survivors reclaim their past

• Survivors Ink: tattoos of freedom – in pictures