As Russia decriminalises domestic violence not causing serious bodily harm, a tattoo artist is helping victims erase the past.

Zhenya Zhakar's shop is located on the main road in the Russian city of Ufa - but you would probably need some help to find it.

Her tattoo salon is hidden by a giant snowbank and the sign, proclaiming 'You were born to be tattooed', is nearly covered up.

But the 33-year-old ink-slinger has never been so busy - which is strange, because nobody in Ufa gets tattoos in the winter.

Six months ago, Ms Zhakar turned her life upside down when she wrote a post on the Russian equivalent of Facebook offering free tattoos to women who had been beaten or abused by their partners. The response was overwhelming.


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Image: Tattoo artist Zhenya Zhakar at work

"I didn't know there would be such a flood of people - that people would be messaging me from all over the country. I didn't realise how many people suffer. That's why I have done tattoos for 200 people in the last six months."

Her special project has turned into something of an essential service. She has drawn flowers on bullet wounds, used vines to cover torture marks and wrapped butterflies around scars from stabbings. In fact, she has acquired a set of extraordinary skills when it comes to concealing the past.

"In general, scars are covered better with tattoos with some texture, like flowers with all their veins and ruffles, or coloured tattoos as well."

Among her talents are an ability to listen and to emphasise and we watched her deploy them with a young woman called Vika Miroshnikova.

Ms Miroshnikova had come in for a second tattoo - the first one covers a stab wound just below her collar bone.

"I have a bumpy scar here on my chest so we chose a butterfly. Can you see it? I couldn't wear open clothes because everyone was pointing their fingers at the scar. I couldn't lie to people and say it was nothing. I just want to say goodbye to these memories once and for all."

Image: A woman's domestic abuse scars before her tattoo

Image: After shot: a victim of domestic abuse has her scars covered by tattoos

Vika asked for a picture of a wolf to cover burn and puncture marks on her forearm and we watched the pair negotiate how and where to place it.

"Let's do this one? That's quite cool," said Zhenya, as they looked at various designs on a computer.

The outline of a wolf's head was eventually traced onto Vika's arm and Zhenya dipped her tattoo gun into the ink and began to draw. Then, the recipient of this multi-coloured artwork told us what happened when she got pregnant.

"My husband and his friend were drunk and his friend said my husband wasn't the father. So they brought me to the forest and tied me to a tree. My husband stuck a knife in my belly but he couldn't do it. He gave the knife to his friend and after five or six seconds, he stabbed me in the chest."

Were they trying to kill you? we asked.

"Yes, they even opened a cellar door to dispose of me."

Vika survived - but many women do not. Figures published in 2008 by the Ministry of Interior showed 14,000 Russian women died from injuries inflicted by their partners every year while regional studies suggest some 600,000 women face physical and verbal abuse at home.

A new law, which decriminalises domestic violence not causing serious bodily harm, could make the situation worse.

The bill, which has now been signed into law by President Putin, reduces the punishment for first-time offenders to a modest fine. Politicians in Moscow said it would create "stronger families" - but the view from the tattoo shop was scathing.

"I think this is nonsense," said Zhenya. "It shouldn't be like this."

Vika added: "In this case the men will think, 'Okay, I'll just pay the 2,000, 3,000 roubles - that's it.'"

When we asked Ms Zhakar about the worst case of abuse she has encountered, she told us about a bride who was shot on her wedding day at the registrar's office.

"She was wearing a beautiful dress, he just took out a gun and shot her … I don't understand."

It's clearly taken a toll. The tattooist on Oktyabrya Street said she had to shut the door and weep as she tried to cope with stories she'd been told.

It's a bit better now, however. Like her clients, she finds solace through art - pastels on paper for her - as she prepares for the day ahead.

:: To find out more about what Zhenya Zhakar does click here.