Wales has become the first country in the UK to introduce a ban on the intimate piercing of under 18s.
The new law, which came into effect on February 1, has made it an offence for piercers to arrange or carry out an intimate piercings, including the tongue, on those underage.
The change has come under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017.
Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, said: “This new law is in place to ensure we can protect children and young people’s health and wellbeing.
“It’s concerning that a third of young people with intimate piercings have reported complications following a procedure.
The child protection issues that could also arise from this scenario highlight even further, the importance of implementing such a law.
“I hope this piece of legislation will help to reduce these issues, and that practitioners understand the importance of obtaining proof of age beforehand.”
Local authorities will be the primary organisations responsible for enforcement, although police have also received training.
A study in England found complications from piercings arose in a third of youngsters between the ages of 16 and 24.
The same study found that problems were most likely to be reported in the case of tongue piercings, 50%, followed by piercings of the genitals, 45%, and the nipples, 38%.
I am generally not in favour of banning things and in favour of less government and more freedom. But in the case of young people deliberately mutilating themselves I find myself in favour of a ban. The figures speak volumes, deliberate disfigurement often causes, totally avoidable, health problems.
Tongue and genital piercing will go on whether banned or not but peer pressure is a major factor in young individuals submitting themselves to mutilation. A ban will lead to fewer practicioners of this ‘art’ and reduce pressure on young people to follow the herd – and often regret the outcome.
Yet this same interfering Welsh Government that is banning choice for 16 and 17 year olds now wants to give them the VOTE ! So they are too immature to make a decision on a simple body piercing but are mature enough to have a vote in local and Assembly elections??? You really can’t make this stuff up! Well you can if you are Welsh Labour, out the feather their own nests again.