A fist with a tattoo reading 'hate'. Photo: 123RF
Thousands of New Zealanders now have access to free tattoo removal for racist symbols, hateful words and slogans if they can prove they no longer agree with the messaging.
The charitable initiative Chance for Change started in Australia, but huge demand from New Zealanders has pushed it to open clinics here.
Founder Mike Anderson says it started after he treated a man who had been radicalised by al Qaeda while in prison on an unrelated charge.
"He was put in a position where he was left with no choice but to put a tattoo to prove his allegiance to that thought process of al Qaeda down his whole arm. Obviously the security agencies began to follow him based on that tattoo, and when he left jail, he… turned it around, had some kids and started to run a business.
"What we found by giving him access to that programme, it removed that last bit of attachment to that ideology and potentially saved his influences like children and nephews and nieces from similar sort of thought processes."
The aim is to support Kiwis who have made noticeable life changes but are still being judged or miss job opportunities.
"By giving him access to that programme, it removed that last bit of attachment to that ideology" - Chance for Change founder Mike Anderson
Candidates go through a process to see if they meet the criteria before experiencing the life-changing treatment, to make sure it does not go to someone undeserving or who still holds the same beliefs.
It is a process that can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars, and hundreds of New Zealanders have ventured overseas as far as Dubai and Singapore for the procedure.
The vetting process involves sitting down with the person and asking a series of questions, such as why they have changed and how the tattoos have impacted their life.
One story that has stuck out to Anderson the most was about a man whose legs were covered in swastikas.
"I think he was in jail as well, and when he came through the programme he said he'd never worn shorts in front of his daughter and she's seven years old. He was so ashamed he didn't have access.
"He caught the bus into the clinic three hours each way to come into the programme. At the end of that process, when he could finally [wear shorts] in front of his kids, he was in tears in the clinic."
He said applicants can also expect 100 percent perfectly normal skin without any scarring.
It was estimated around 80,000 New Zealanders have tattoos they want removed, and 1 percent of these would be hate tattoos.
More than 85,000 people over the past decade have been treated in Chance for Change's Australian clinic, and demand for the service grows 50 percent each year.