JACKSON, Tenn. — The “Ink of Hope Act” passed the Tennessee General Assembly requiring tattoo artists undergo human trafficking training.
If signed into law, beginning January 1 next year, tattoo artists renewing their licenses will be required to watch a short video on the signs of human trafficking and how to safely report it to authorities.
The training will only be one hour and is at no cost. This would ensure tattoo artist are able to recognize and stop human trafficking.
We spoke with the owner of Sacred Adornments here in the Hub City for their thoughts on the bill.
“Some common themes with human trafficking tattoos are currency tattoos names dates and those are things that we tattoo a lot so I think us as artist if we were to able to be a bit more knowledgeable and be able to pinpoint when that’s happening we can help,” said Alexandra Hardee, co-owener of Sacred Adornments.
If passed into law after January 1 of next year, Tennessee tattoo artists renewing their license will have until December 31 of 2028 to undergo the training.
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