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Yevgeniya Zhakar, a tattoo artist in Russia, has been overwhelmed by the number of women turning to her to help take back their bodies.

Yevgeniya Zhakar, a tattoo artist in Ufa, Russia has been helping survivors of abuse of open up about their experiences by offering free tattoos to cover their scars.

Vadim Braydov / AP

Zhakhar told the Associated Press that she got the idea after learning about Flavia Carvalho, a tattoo artist in Brazil who launched a similar project, and began transforming scars like this one from a gunshot wound into art.

Brazil's Carvalho told the Huffington Post at the time he started his project, “It is wonderful to see how their relationship with their bodies changes after they get the tattoos.”

Flavia Carvalho / Via Facebook: fla.tattoo

Zakhar decided to offer tattoos free of charge last year and since then has been overwhelmed — both by the number of women seeking her out and by their stories.

“It's really scary, scary to look at this problem and hear what people are saying,” she told the AP.

Women say that the tattoos help them feel more comfortable in public because people stop asking about the scars and start complimenting their tattoos, she added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law earlier this week decriminalizing “light” domestic abuse this week. While the law’s sponsors argue that it will give families an opportunity to resolve their conflicts without unnecessary state intervention, Amnesty International has called the law “a sickening attempt to further trivialize domestic violence” and said that the law “rides roughshod over women’s rights.”

Vadim Braydov / AP

According to Human Rights Watch, citing the Russian government’s statistics, 40% of all violent crimes in Russia are committed within the family.

One of Zakhar's clients, Katarina Golkova, had to have surgery on her arm after her boyfriend threw her into a window.

Vadim Braydov / AP

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