A Me Too movement is brewing in the tattoo industry with a growing number of male tattoo artists being accused and convicted of sexually assaulting their female clients.
Women are speaking out about their experiences in the chair as they allege their tattoo artists are abusing their positions when inking women’s bodies in intimate places.
Tattoo artist Fidjit, who has been posting on Instagram about alleged sexual predators in the industry since 2015, told Cosmopolitan she has been overwhelmed by messages from women sharing their stories of harassment and assault by male artists who were inking their bodies.
The same report told the story of an anonymous woman who claimed a famous UK tattoo artist had sexually assaulted her while they were alone in a tattoo studio, after first joking he’d ink her skin for free in exchange for a sexual favour.
Is the tattoo industry going through a Me Too era? More and more women are speaking up about sexual assault at the hands of men who have tattooed their bodies. Christos Phitides, 32, was last week sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, for sexually assaulting a female client at a tattoo studio in Knutsford in 2020
In India, a woman claimed on Instagram last year that she too had been sexually assaulted by her tattoo artist. She alleged he had asked her to remove her bra while he tattooed her ribs, but did not give her anything to cover herself with, and later alleged he ‘groped’ her breasts.
Writing two years after having her tattoo inked, the woman said: ‘I feel and understand that I was sexually violated and molested.’
However, reflecting on how she felt at the time, the woman wrote: ‘As a 20 year old and first timer, I was unsure if all of this was ok.’
A few weeks later, the woman posted an update to her followers which confirmed her alleged attacker had been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Scott Pettitt, a tattoo artist from Edmonton, Canada, was jailed in 2021 for sexually assaulting three female clients
Paul Little was convicted of raping one client and sexually assaulting five others from the years 2013 to 2019
These are not the only incidents of male tattoo artists assaulting female clients while inking them.
Just last week a tattoo artist in Birmingham was given a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a client back in 2020.
Christos Phitides, 32, asked the woman if she wanted ‘any extra’ during her tattoo appointment before he touched her inappropriately two years ago. When the woman filed a complaint almost immediately after the incident, Phitides booked a flight to Cyprus and fled the country to escape justice, but he was finally arrested at Birminham Airport last summer when he returned to the UK.
Manchester Evening News reported he was sentenced at Chester Crown Court to a 12 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and given a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to his victim.
One Instagram account, labelled a ‘survivor led safe space, working to raise awareness and prevent sexual abuse in the tattoo & piercing industry’, shares posts like the one above
A statement from Cheshire Constabulary revealed how Phitides, also known as Kris Karma, assaulted the client at a tattoo studio in Knutsford while she was having a tattoo covered up.
The statement said: ‘As he was working on the tattoo, Phitides began to talk to the woman in a sexualised manner and touched her inappropriately, asking ‘do you want any extra’. She told him no.
‘When the appointment finished, the victim spoke to the manager of the tattoo shop and disclosed the offence. Phitides was immediately told to leave, and within the hour, he had booked a return flight home to Cyprus which was scheduled to leave the next day.’
DC Andy Cole said: ‘Phitides abused his position of trust as a tattoo artist and fled the country knowing full well what he had done but chose to avoid facing the consequences.’
A Me Too movement is brewing in the tattoo industry with a growing number of male tattoo artists being accused and convicted of sexually assaulting their female clients. Pictured, an Instagram post about the #TattooMeToo movement
In 2020, tattoo artist Paul Little was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting five others between 2013 and 2019.
The sex offender ordered his victims, who ranged in age from 18 to 49, to undress before he touched them inappropriately and exposed himself at tattoo studio Rabbit Tattoos, in Irlam, Salford, Manchester Evening News reports.
On one occasion in 2014, he raped one of his clients in the studio while she was admiring a tattoo on her body he had just completed.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Little locked the door of the shop while his victim was still inside and began making inappropriate comments, before cupping her breast and trying to kiss her during the tattooing process.
When he had finished the tattoo, he bent the woman over a bed and pulled down her underwear. He then ‘momentarily penetrated her’.
Prosecutor Rachel White said: ‘She says it happened very quickly and she bucked her upper body backwards a couple of times to push him away.’
In a victim impact statement, the victim said Little had ‘ruined her life and her marriage’.
The court also heard how he groped an 18-year-old woman’s breasts after ordering her to undress in the studio.
Sentencing Little to nearly a decade behind bars, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls described him as ‘exploitative and opportunistic’.
As well as a jail sentence, Little was made the subect of a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order was imposed upon him regarding one of his victims.
Another serial offender in Canada who sexually assaulted three female clients faced justice in 2021 when he was jailed for six and a half years.
Scott Pettitt, from Edmonton, Ontario, assaulted the women at his studio, Second Skin Custom Tattoos, between 2014 and 2018.
CBC News reported that in 2014, Pettitt supplied a woman with alcohol and strong painkiller Percocet while he was tattooing her legs. During the session, he put his hand between her legs and tried to insert his fingers into her vagina.
In a victim impact statement, the woman told the court the attack was ‘the most humiliating, demeaning and scarring moment of my life’.
She added she suffers from anxiety and has frequent nightmares.
Pettitt assaulted two further women in 2018 when they went to his studio for tattoos.
Sentencing Pettitt, Justice Wayne Renke said he was predatory and his behaviour was intentional.
He said: ‘This abuse had the pattern of taking advantage of vulnerable clients.’
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Glasgow-based tattoo artist Fidjit said: ‘Speaking out, telling your story, it’s a way for survivors to take some power back.’
If you have been a victim of rape or sexual assault, you can contact Rape Crisis for help and support
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