AN ARTIST WHO set up “Britain’s first tattoo parlour for kids” as a statement on the sexualisation of children was surprised to get genuine requests from parents who wanted to ink up their kids.

Locals in the UK town of Whitstable first saw a notice for a new tattoo parlour on a high street shop window yesterday.

A banner stretched across the front of the shop advertises “20% off your child’s first tattoo” and features the slogan: “A gift for life, at pocket money prices.”

But the ‘parlour’ is actually a project by artist Sadie Hennessy, who also created a website and email address for her fake business.

An article in the Canterbury Times yesterday said witnesses thought the banner was a practical joke, but the ‘business’ got ten genuine requests from parents hoping to get their kids inked.

Kent Online reports one such request was from a father asking “if it would hurt for his six-year-old daughter to get a tattoo”.

According to Metro.co.uk, Sadie’s aim was to generate discussion on the sexualisation of children.

She explained:

I’m not doing it to make a fool out of people. I’m just trying to get people thinking about these issues about our children growing up too quickly.

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