Gig Harbor based Lisse Medical Aesthetics is partnering with Washington Corrections Center for Women to provide opportunities for inmates to remove tattoos linked to negative past experiences.
In a statement posted to the Washington State Department of Corrections website, 32-year-old Machela Sheckles said that she started getting tattoos at a young age and that many of them represent a time in her life where she did not feel in control of what happened to her body.
She said that the program with Lisse offered her an opportunity to reconnect with her autonomy.
Sheckles experiences match a hard-to-document trend. A National Institutes of Health survey of organizations that serve human trafficking survivors found that nearly half of trafficked women have tattoos tied to their experiences of exploitation.
Data from, Washington State Prisons shows that as of Feb. 28, 2026, about 71% of individuals in DOC custody—9,935 people—entered with tattoos.
Sheckles has undergone a couple of treatment sessions so far, and Lisse estimates it could take the better part of a year to complete the removal of just one of her tattoos
Not all incarcerated individuals’ tattoos are signs of past negative experiences, but for some their removal can be an empowering experience according to Lisse.
In addition to being reminders of a troubled past, Department of Corrections officials state that the tattoos have the potential to harm the person’s ability to secure a job after release.
Superintendent of the center, Kari Figueira said in a statement on the prison’s website that 62 women so far have requested appointments with the program.
The program launched last fall shortly after Lisse master aesthetician attended a conference where a presenter described a similar program in another state.
Currently women interested in the program are transported from the prison for treatments but eventually, Lisse says that it hopes to place a tattoo removal machine inside the prison, however, there is currently no allotment in the Department of Corrections budget for the addition.
Katrina Flowers-Piercy, owner of Lisse and board-certified physician’s assistant, said that the process of removing a tattoo can vary depending on the type of ink used and the size of the tattoo.
Sheckles has undergone a couple treatments for the tattoo she is working on removing and while Lisse estimates it will take the better part of a year to complete her treatment she says that it will be worth the wait.
“It feels like anything’s possible,” Sheckles said in a Department of Corrections press release. “Like I can finally have a choice of what I want to do with my body.”
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