The man she loved convinced her God had brought them together. He used her faith to slowly strip away everything — her home, her savings, her freedom, and eventually her own skin. He bought a tattoo machine off the internet and forced her to sit under it every other day, even through high fevers and infections, even when pus was seeping from her body. Paracetamol was forbidden.

By the time it ended, his name covered 90 percent of her body. Two hundred and fifty tattoos in total — his name, his initials, the words “property of” — on her face, her neck, her chest, her most intimate places. She was l0cked in a caravan, allowed outside five minutes a day, and left the relationship with €45,000 in debt and a year of suicidal thoughts.

Today, Joke has stepped forward as the face of a national campaign in the Netherlands to help women forced into unwanted tattoos by abusive partners. Her removal is underway, costing €30,000 and expected to take until the end of 2026. A crowdfunding campaign raised €22,000 in just three days.

Her message to other survivors: “Those who have been deeply hurt can get back up. If I can do it, then someone else can too.”
More than 350 women in the Netherlands are believed to have experienced similar @buse. For them, tattoo removal is not cosmetic. It is the first step toward reclaiming their lives.