| Hair Stylists and Abuse | |
Attention all hair styling students. A new class has been added. You are about to learn how to spot wife abuse!
Last summer, Susan O'Toole of the Women's Center of Southeastern Connecticut was awarded $1,000 to teach hair stylists how
to recognize signs of domestic violence and sexual assault. Participating salons are now posting hot lines, making brochures
available and to even make referrals to service agencies.
Veronica Boyd-Frenkel, domestic violence ombudsman for the attorney general of Nevada, is working to set up a training program for cosmetology teachers and school administrators. While the program does not turn stylists into crisis workers, it will teach them what to look for and how to ask the right questions.
Psychotherapists are understandably, not very happy with the new job requirement. They state that stylists could easily get in over their heads, putting them suddenly in the middle of a situation they have no idea how to handle.
But it seems that this is not as new or unusual as it may appear. In San Diego, stylists are taught to advise on the importance of mammography and breast self examinations. In Los Angeles, stylists are questioned about their clients thoughts on the city's night life and in Nashville, a local Aids organization uses the salons to discuss HIV prevention.
It seems that the casual phrase... "How was your day?" might be a little like opening Pandora's Box.
at Beauty and Health |