Linked to ink: Tattoo artists raise awareness about human trafficking
An Omaha tattoo conference aims to educate artists on how they can help stop trafficking
An Omaha tattoo conference aims to educate artists on how they can help stop trafficking
An Omaha tattoo conference aims to educate artists on how they can help stop trafficking
Tattoo artists hear all kinds of stories.
"There's stories behind every tattoo, and they're important to everybody," tattoo artist and studio owner Mel Judkins said.
The bond between artist and client could not be more sacred than in a tattoo chair.
"Some of them do open up and tell their stories," Judkins said.
Judkins, who owns Black Squirrel Tattoo in Omaha and has been tattooing for almost 20 years, will never forget the story she heard last year, when a sex trafficking survivor walked into her shop.
"She had the name of the trafficker, she had dollar signs," Judkins said, describing the woman's chest tattoo.
This particular client had been branded- a technique that law enforcement officers see often in trafficking cases.
"These traffickers don't see these victims as victims, they don't even necessarily see them as human, they see them as a commodity or as a product," Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Eric Kauffman said.
Picking up on the subtle clues like names, dollar signs, crowns and other symbols of power can be difficult.
"When you don't know the relationship or the story behind it and they don't really tell you, it's a difficult position to put the artist in," Judkins said.
That's why Judkins and other local artists, along with UNMC, helped organize a conference that will take place Thursday to educate front-line workers on trafficking's link to ink.
"They talk about law enforcement being the front line in these types of battles- we're not," Kauffman said, "it's the public."
Beyond what's being tattooed, Kauffman says behavior can be a red flag.
"It's something that dehumanizes them, they don't wanna talk about it, they don't have a story to share, those are the things that we need to pick up on and report," Kauffman said.
For prisoners in their own skin, tattoo artists like Judkins are liberators.
That's exactly what Judkins would rather be, telling KETV she's done free work to cover up trafficking victims' tattoos.
"It's fulfilling emotionally and morally just to know that person can take a sigh of relief when they look in the mirror again, and you had a part in that," Judkins said.
The first annual Heritage Tattoo Conference begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Old Mattress Factory Bar and Grill in downtown Omaha. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
The event is hosted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center- College of Public Health, and is free to attendees during the morning sessions.
World-renowned tattoo artist and painter, Gunnar, will speak during the morning session along with Dr. Shireen Rajaram, who will give a presentation on the links between the tattoo industry and human trafficking.
The Council Bluffs Tattoo Arts Convention begins the next day, Friday, at the Mid-America Center. More information on the convention can be found here.