Hundreds of women asking for 'cover-up' tattoos after being sexually abused in studios

11 October 2024, 10:18

A tattoo artist has told LBC that she has been 'overwhelmed' by requests from women to have their tattoos covered up after they were subjected to sexual abuse while having them done.

In an industry that’s growing by 10 per cent every year - there’s still concern about the lack of regulation for tattoo artists in the UK - following reports of ‘prolific’ sexual abuse taking place in tattoo studios.

In 2020 Dolly started a tattoo studio in the centre of Brighton - the ‘tattoo capital’ of the UK - home to the most tattoo studios per capita. 

But her studio is purely for women and the queer community - a ‘safe space’ after she was sexually abused while having a tattoo and then hearing similar accounts from hundreds of women. 

“I’ve heard all sorts of stories, ranging in scale, some of it was really dark stuff that people should be in prison for.

“I’ve always been aware of it but it got to a point where I was not having a conversation about tattooing where someone hadn’t had an experience where they felt unsafe, the frequency is just alarming.

“Every time I looked at my phone I was reading someone’s traumatic story about what happened to them.

“When I posted on my social media in July asking if someone would speak to a journalist about any experience they had, in maybe 20 minutes I had about 45 messages - even now it’s still shocking to me.”

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LBC’s spoken to one woman, Francesca, who was assaulted when she had a walk-in tattoo on holiday in Hunstanton, with the artist convincing her to get it on her upper thigh, and not her calf.

“He gets some tissue, doesn’t ask permission to touch me or anything, and tucks it into my knickers, and runs his hand all the way down, so that his hand is touching the [tattoo] bed where I’m laying, so his hands went inside my underwear, and I just froze.

“While he’s tattooing me, he’s going very deep and he’s almost kind of getting a bit of satisfaction out of me squirming, he doesn’t ask me if it hurts he’s just seemingly doing everything he can to make sure it hurts.

“I want it gone, gone, gone, I can’t look at it, I hate it.”

Lorna told us she had a similar experience after visiting a tattoo studio in Birmingham.

“He was only doing the top of my arm, but he decided that where my hand was dangling, he had to have my hand touching his crotch. 

“He then decided to then lean on my chest to do the top of my arm and it got to the point where he was really pressing against my chest to the point where it actually hurt a little bit. 

“I just felt so uncomfortable to the point where I think I just shut down."

Dolly has been helping women who’ve been abused in tattoo studios ‘cover up’ their tattoos with new designs since 2020 under the #TattooMeToo movement.

She says nothing has changed when it comes to regulating tattoo artists in four years. 

“There is no criminal check when it comes to becoming a tattoo artist and there should be certain things that should be flagged before you are allowed to have a licence, so whether that’s GBH, ABH, sexual assault, I think that should be flagged.

“The idea is that there is some sort of system in place where if you are put in a position when you’re getting tattooed that you feel unsafe or you hear something you can report that to the council in the same you can report someone not disposing of their waste properly.

"Then if that particular artists or studio gets flagged a number of times, they investigate, and in that time you have your licence suspended, until they have been investigated. It would be great if they could align that with some kind of police action."

Councillor Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “As a council we are committed to tackling violence against women and girls and it is concerning hearing about people’s experiences in some tattoo parlours. 

"We have not directly received any concerns of this type from local tattoo premises, registered practitioners, members of the public or the police. Our advice to anyone who has experienced sexual assault would always be to contact Sussex Police.  

“There is currently no legislation allowing us to require tattoo artists to undergo a DBS check; the only checks councils are able to enforce are relating to cleanliness and infection control.

“We would be keen to talk to your caller and discuss their ideas and may also explore a council-run trusted artist scheme whereby people could voluntarily provide additional certification.”