Student wants attitude change towards tattoos

A student from Guernsey is challenging attitudes surrounding tattoos after she received criticism online.

Sammie Carre, 31, said she had experienced negative comments because of her collection of tattoos after she posted on a Facebook group looking for part-time work.

Miss Carre, who studies criminal law, said she was sharing her experience because she wanted to encourage people not to "judge a book by its cover".

She said many of her tattoos were "memory tattoos", including her first, a small butterfly on her stomach dedicated to her mother, which she got when she was 16.

Miss Carre started studying law at Kingston University after being inspired by a legal drama, which she watched during lockdown.

Since her first tattoo, she has added more body art to her arms, hands and chest.

While back in the island for Christmas, she posted on a Facebook group looking for part-time work, as well as asking for information about corporate sponsorships for law students.

She said she received lots of helpful replies, but also many "abusive" messages which criticised her for having tattoos, including one post that said she was "branded like an animal".

"I've been called a scrounger and a criminal," she said.

"The post clearly states I was seeking part-time work... I was in no way looking to scrounge or thieve."

The original post was deleted due to the volume of negative comments, she said.

Miss Carre said she did have some regrets over the tattoos on visible areas, such as her hands, but felt some of the responses she had received were "unfair".

Tattoos are not covered by equality laws in Guernsey or the UK, so it is not illegal to discriminate against someone because they have them, or to ask them to cover their tattoos at work.

However, Miss Carre said a New York politician had tried to introduce a law in 2022 preventing discrimination against people with tattoos and she hoped the UK and Guernsey would eventually follow suit.

Tattoo artist Adam Trump said his customers came from "all walks of life".

Mr Trump, from Ritual Tattoo Club in St Peter Port, said the reasons a stigma still existed about tattoos were partly historical.

"It used to be a less clean process," he said. "It would be done in back rooms."

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