Flavia Carvalho began her project 'A Pele da Flor', which means 'The Skin of the Flower', in Curitiba, Brazil, to turn horrific mementos² into "self-esteem boosters". Since then her art has covered up wounds from bullets, beatings, stabbings and even mastectomies. The service is one 100% - the only 'cost' is choosing the tattoo.

 

Falvia says she came up with the idea when a client wanted to cover a large scar on her abdomen³. She told the Huffington Post: "She told me that she was at a nightclub, and when she turned down a man who approached her, he stabbed her with an switchblade." When the client saw the finished tattoo, she was "extremely moved" and Flavia was "deeply touched".

 

She continued with the idea of providing the free tattoos⁴ to victims of domestic abuse or mastectomies. Flavia says it is "wonderful" to see how women's reaction to their bodies change following the new tattoos. From being ashamed of the scarring, the girls flaunt⁵ their new body art on Facebook, says the tattooist⁶.

 

All the stories move her, but one in particular stays in her mind; that of a 17-year-old who was dating an older man. She said: "For months, [she] suffered from the physically⁷ abusive relationship. When he wanted to break up with her, he scheduled a meeting, and after they began to fight, he stabbed her several times in her abdomen, and violently raped⁸ her."

 

The victim ended up with a perineum tear, had to have surgery several times and ended up in intensive care. Flavia covered up her scars with a tattoo of flowers and birds.

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