16- and 17-year old’s can now legally get some body piercings done in Guernsey.
The law is being changed to allow older teenagers to get non-intimate body piercings, including cartilage and lip piercings but excluding stretchers and flesh tunnels, if they have the written consent of parents and it is carried out by a registered business.
Deputies agreed to change the law after a Requete was lodged to force it through, some years after the issue was first raised politically.
Prior to 2017, a blind eye was turned to any older teenagers getting the top of their ear or their noses pierced, but a complaint from a school teacher led Environmental Health to start clamping down on it.
Registered body piercers locally said that in turn led to teenagers piercing themselves, or getting pierced while off-island and then asking for help with infections on their return.
HSC had started looking at changing the law, to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to get some piercings done on-island before the covid pandemic, but that work was derailed and not picked up again until now.
The changes that were finally agreed yesterday are said to reflect practices in other jurisdictions such as Wales.
Health & Social Care and Education, Sport & Culture were consulted on the changes before this week’s vote.
The signatories to the Requete included Deputies Gavin St Pier, Tina Bury, Jayne Ozanne, Garry Collins, Chris Blin, Rhona Humphreys, and Adrian Gabriel.
The Requete asked for HSC to be given the power to make additional changes to the law without having to come back to the States again.
“Whilst successive Committees for Health & Social Care have supported the change, they have not been able to prioritise this matter given limited policy and drafting resources. Therefore, a Requête is the most appropriate mechanism to enable the States to act directly and expeditiously,” they said.
“The drafting required is limited and specific, and the policy direction is clear. The Requête route allows Members to progress this matter without diverting any resources from other priorities.”
While some deputies yesterday said this was not a priority and it was wasting States time, a majority agreed to change the law.
It passed by 29 votes to six.
An amendment aimed at preventing under 18s from getting a ‘cartilage piercing’ was defeated.
HSC President Deputy George Oswald had tried to maintain the ban on 16 and 17-year-olds from getting things like the top of their ear or their nose. That was voted down 16 votes to 19.