Cardiff Council have set up a new initiative involving the hair and beauty industry to help support victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Hair salons are being recruited across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to help combat domestic abuse, sexual assault, and violence against women.
Next month, Cardiff Council will distribute resource packages containing critical information to around 650 businesses throughout the region, to help hair salons recognise signs of domestic abuse victims and enable them to refer any clients who require assistance to local support services.
“This new initiative in a way takes it a step further because it takes it into the community,” said Councillor Susan Elsmore, Cabinet Member for Social Care, Health, and Wellbeing, who is involved with the new program. “Notwithstanding the fact that there are many of us that don’t go to the hairdressers every week, we still have that kind of ambience…you still have that relationship with your hairdresser where you will chat about things and it’s interesting that it is quite a private, public space, but people often share quite a lot.”
According to Councillor Elsmore, the hair and beauty sector was chosen for this initiative because employees connect with individuals in the local area. “Our local communities can know a lot about us and perhaps, it might be able to prompt someone because we know individuals can suffer in terms of lived experiences for a long time and in very potentially dangerous situations.”
The resource pack directs businesses to programmes like Welsh Women’s Aid’s ‘Ask Me Ambassadors‘, FOR Cardiff’s ‘Safe Places‘, and free Welsh Government online training that can help people recognise signs of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
This program aims to ensure that everyone facing abuse is supported, as the consequences of domestic violence can be extensive and have a major impact on all victims’ lives.
Julie Evans, a hair stylist at Supercuts in St David’s Centre, believes that the new initiative is a good idea and will help hairdressers feel more equipped to speak with victims of domestic violence. “We just want to help people that don’t think there is any way out and just give them somewhere safe they can come.”
“Hairdressers are normally the place where everyone spills everything and there is a lot of privacy and confidentiality,” she said.
“I think it’s probably the personal touch and how you make the client feel as well,” said Mrs Evans, who thinks hair salons are a good starting point for the initiative. “If they feel comfortable enough with you, then they will tell you their whole life story.”
The recruiting of hair salons, according to Steven Reynolds, manager of Lazarou in Cardiff City Centre, is a good idea because it can become a route for people who are under duress to speak up. “Within the hair and beauty industry, stylists and technicians are privy to some people’s intimate secrets and that bond that the client has with the stylist can be a very personal one.”
Mr Reynolds said that while former clients have shared their personal issues with him, determining whether they should be advising clients on private matters can be challenging. “You should just be providing a listening and signposting option to people rather that telling people what to do because we are not qualified. It has to be a choice by the person themselves.”
While others were pleased about the proposal to seek the help of hair salons, Rebecca Thomas, who works at Celly’s Salon, was sceptical and said it should be up to the individual in the relationship to decide whether or not they are prepared to accept support.
“If someone is going out of their way to report something and they’re [victim] not in that position to be ready themselves, they could turn around and say ‘well, I can’t even go to my hairdressers without someone saying something’, and then in the future, they are not going to say anything at all,” said Mrs Thomas.
The information packs are part of a larger effort in Cardiff to raise awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault. Live Fear Free, the national domestic abuse and sexual violence helpline, will be advertised on all bus tickets for companies that operate in Cardiff until the end of march.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, or violence against women, you can seek help and support from the Live Fear Free service.
