For Abused Women, Hair Stylists Can Be Saviors

Abused women are good at keeping secrets -- except when it comes to their hair stylists. Thanks to several programs across the United States, salons are helping abused women find support.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on February 26 2008

Domestic violence is a huge problem in today’s society. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 3 million women in America are beaten or abused by their husbands or boyfriends each year. Sadly, many abused women are too afraid to speak out against their attackers and seek help, even though it could be the difference between life and death: In the United States, an average of 3 women die at the hands of their abusers every single day.

While there are many valuable resources dedicated to ending domestic abuse, most women never dare to pick up the phone to call for help, and they’d never set foot in a women’s shelter for fear of being followed. However, there is one place that no woman can avoid for too long: Her neighborhood hair salon.

For most women, the hair salon can be the perfect place to share secrets about everything under the sun, from guilty pleasures to illicit affairs. It’s a classier version of Taxicab Confessions, with the added bonus of a cute new ‘do.

“They know that they can talk about everything and anything,” Ingrid Dominguez of New York City Children’s Services told CBS News, “and that it’s not gonna come out of the salon.”

Inspired by the homey atmosphere of her own salon, Dominguez came up with a bright idea for identifying and aiding women who suffer from domestic abuse: She developed a training program for hair stylists to help them identify abused women, and to provide them with contact information and resources for organizations that can help such women escape their violent living situations.

Even though hair stylists may not be able to convince women to leave their abusers, “what we are encouraging from the salon operator, is just to provide them with the information, ‘think about it, there’s help,’” said Dominguez.

Dominguez’s program is based exclusively in New York City, but women all around the country can take advantage of similar support programs at their own salons: A program called Cut it Out, which launched in Birmingham, Alabama six years ago has now trained more than 25,000 stylists to provide support to sufferers of domestic violence.

Thanks to these programs, and the network of concerned stylists all over the United States, some women will get a lot more than a haircut next time they step into a salon –they’ll get a second chance at life.

For more resources on ending domestic abuse, please visit:

The National Domestic Violence Hotline

STAND! Against Domestic Violence

Filed under: Business, Health and Wellbeing, Heroes, Non-Profits,

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