Because beauty professionals are “among the first people who can recognize signs of abuse,” two U.S. senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to incentivize states to implement domestic-violence prevention training for licensed cosmetologists.
The “Supporting the Abused by Learning Options to Navigate Survivor Stories Act” (SALONS Stories ACT) was introduced in December by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). Both their states require such training as part of obtaining or renewing a cosmetology license.
The education program teaches signs of abuse, how to listen and communicate with potential victims, and possibly help someone trying to leave an abusive relationship.
A common factor among domestic abuse victims is their isolation—an overwhelming number are cut off from close relationships by their abuser. However, many will still go to beauty and grooming appointments, making their service provider one of their only consistent, intimate contacts in the outside world.
“Victims of domestic violence often don’t know where to turn or who to talk to, but they do often continue going to their salons,” says Duckworth, whose state was the first in the U.S. to require such training for cosmetology license holders such as hair stylists, barbers, nail technicians, makeup artists, and estheticians.
The federal law would offer grants and resources to states interested in implementing similar training. Tennessee, Illinois, Washington, and Arkansas have already made the eductation mandatory for cosmetology license holders, and several other states are considering it.
“One in four women will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime, and in the United States, three women are killed each day by an intimate partner,” Blackburn says.
“Some women, even at their most vulnerable and isolated, will continue going to the salon and building relationships with their cosmetologists. This is a common-sense bipartisan bill to help equip cosmetologists with resources necessary to identify and support victims of domestic violence.”
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, more than 10 million adults in the U.S. experience domestic violence per year. Among women, 14 percent have been victims of domestic abuse; 4 percent among men.
The numbers escalate dramatically in Black and Latino communities, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Their statistics put 33 percent of Black women, 25 percent of Black men, and 34 percent of Latina women experiencing intimate partner violence.