When Melody Montemayor was being trafficked, her pimp branded her: his name and a dollar sign tattooed on the nape of her neck, his motto “never under pressure” etched onto her wrist and “property of” inked across the side of her belly. “I was a commodity. I wasn’t a person,” said Montemayor, 38, who now lives in Ponder, Texas. “I was bought every day — and multiple times a day.” Almost 15 years later, after discovering a directory of free tattoo removal programs, she found a dermatologist willing to help. Over 11 appointments, she saw her tattoos slowly fade away and, with them, the shame she had long carried. It felt redemptive, Montemayor said, like she was returning to herself. In a 2022 study of sex trafficking survivors, about half reported that they had branding tattoos. So, to support survivors’ recovery, some dermatologists have started to offer free tattoo removal services.…