Posting for a friend:
I’m a henna tattoo artist and I do temporary tattoos on people’s hands and wrists at parties such as bar or bat mitzvahs and weddings.
I am a woman and although I only do henna on other women and children, men often ask for tattoos, usually on their hands, and I turn them away.
One of these men recently explained to me that I could do henna on men because it’s ‘occupational touching’ and therefore isn’t intimate and is permissible. He compared to a person who works at a police station taking people’s fingerprints by touching the hand of a member of the opposite sex to put it in the ink and then press it on the paper.
I also do other types of temporary tattoos and face painting.
Can I actually do this on members of the opposite sex? Are there any differences depending on what/where I’m doing it (obviously only in public and on areas that are commonly shown) and if the person is a non-Jew?
Thank you!