Sofie
Participatory Portrait
She was
jailbait
Sofie was still a teenager when attention from older men turned the things she loved into something sexualised and shameful. When she later tried to get help, the scrutiny repeatedly turned back onto her.
At 14, Sofie enjoyed sharing photos of herself wearing the Japanese fashion she loved. As her following grew, it increasingly included older men whose messages and requests became deeply inappropriate.
At 16, she entered a relationship with a 30-year-old man. Around the same time, she was publicly labelled a slag and a “child prostitute,” received threatening messages and became known locally as the “town slut.” She lost friends and felt ostracised by her family.
When Sofie later went to the police about what she had experienced, she came away feeling blamed rather than protected. She felt she was seen as too unpredictable and too complicated to be taken seriously.
The experience profoundly affected her confidence and she later developed agoraphobia. Now, she is in therapy and rebuilding. She reads, writes, plays video games and remains proudly alternative, with a love of goth fashion, tattoos, piercings and bright hair.
THE DESTRUCTION
Systematically Failed
About the Work
2026
Acrylic on canvas
I turned Sofie’s portrait into something resembling a police record, adding black lineup lines behind her before stamping “JAILBAIT” across her face in distressed red lettering.
The official-looking stamp reflects how a sexualised label was placed onto Sofie while she was still a child. The police imagery represents what happened when she later sought help: instead of feeling protected, she felt the scrutiny turn back onto her. The adults had the power, but Sofie was left carrying the label.