Draw the line project and safety in the tattooing and piercing community.
Welcome back to 7th Circle’s monthly blog. After a bit of discussion with Kevin and the gang, I decided my New Years resolution would be to try and provide some different topics from around the industry that can keep you informed with some more content. With that being said, let's jump into our first topic of the year, DBS checks.
Meeting a new tattoo artist can be difficult. Trying to find a person you get along with, enjoy their art style and are willing to get ‘stabbed’ by can be a tricky endeavour. You go into the shop knowing that you’re putting your trust as a customer in the hands of, quite often, a stranger. Social media only shows you what that person wants you to see, and for most artists there's nothing criminal or dangerous to hide. However, there may be the odd artist where this isn’t the case.
In most other industries, a DBS check is required before you can work with vulnerable people or in situations where the customer would be put in a vulnerable position. For those who don’t know, DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service. It is a non-departmental public body in the UK (covering England, Wales, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man) that processes criminal record checks to help employers make safer recruitment decisions, particularly when working with children or vulnerable adults. Having spent almost 10 years working as a Primary School Teacher I have been required to have a valid DBS check for every job. This makes sense, you wouldn't want your child going to a school where there is a person with a challenging history of sexual or violent behaviour which may have an impact on how they interact with your child. The DBS gives you peace of mind that the necessary people have been filtered out of the process if they have any offences such as sex offences or violent behaviour.
However, except for Wales which does require a DBS check for tattoo licensing, no other area of the UK, at the time of writing this blog, requires mandatory checks for Tattoo Artists or Piercers to complete a DBS check as part of the licensing process.
Recently, there have been cases of sexual assault involving artists and customers in what honestly sounds like a horrifying experience covered by BBC news. In response to this ongoing, silent issue a group of artists have come together to create the ‘Draw the line project’, a campaign working to make it a requirement for artists in the UK (excluding Wales) to complete DBS checks. When you go for a tattoo you are putting yourself in a vulnerable position and with close contact with your body; this has been unfortunately taken advantage of by a small number of artists. As discussed by Matthew Castle from Bleeding Hearts Tattoo Studio on the BBC news coverage: ‘As a man, I want my clients to be able to trust that I’m going to keep them safe and look after them and when instances like that happen it completely wipes out any work that people like me are doing to make people feel safe’.
(Instagram - Draw the line project)
Tattooing as an art form and an industry has made huge steps into the mainstream, and has worked hard to gain acceptability in society. There are, however, still dangerous individuals within tattooing that hinder further acceptance and progress. These individuals perpetuate the negative connotations that the industry already has been trying to overcome by disregarding safety, hygiene and standardised processes. This may seem like a non-issue for some people but it is of the utmost importance when it comes to adapting this unregulated practice. Tattooing has always been left in this strange limbo where it doesn't always fit into the parameters used for normal businesses. The Draw the Line Project (DtLP) is taking direct action on this issue to implement this process as a mandatory practice.
The Draw the Line Project has started a petition requiring over 10,000 signatures for a government response and 100,000 to be considered for debate in Parliament. At the time of writing, the petition is at just over 8000 signatures so this is partly the reason we are discussing it here on our blog. It's an issue that is not only for the industry but also for the customer, it's everyone's problem that a simple signature could help stop. Bringing awareness to this project and campaign is important to us as at 7th Circle Tattoo & Piercing studio we pride ourselves on hygiene, safety and high standards. Being able to build trust with your artist should come with the bare minimum peace of mind that they have not committed sexual or violent crimes in the past.
A fantastic point that the DtLP insist on is that it isn't all offences that should prevent people entering the profession, tattooing is a fantastic opportunity for people to change the course of their lives or rebrand and start anew, possibly with some poor choices in the past. It's only violent and sexual crimes that have a real bearing on the safety of the customer. Another good note to make is evidence that change can happen by people discussing and raising awareness. As of the 21st of January 2026, the government made a change meaning self-employed individuals are no longer limited to a Basic DBS check, if their role is eligible which means they can submit a deeper and more thorough criminal check. Although this may not cover tattooing in this category as it stands, it could be included in the eligibility in the future.
To put our money where our mouth is, we at 7th Circle have now voluntarilycompleted basic DBS. We hope other studios follow suit.
This month's blog has been a heavier topic than we usually speak about but we wouldn’t feel right if we didn't use this opportunity and platform to help bring some awareness to the issue.
Please take the time to follow the link below, add your name with ours and sign the petition 🙏 At the time of posting there still hasn’t been a single signature from Oldham west Chadderton & Royton, none of our postcodes are within that constituency, but we know that other local artist’s are, which is very disappointing.
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