Published by admin on 07 Jul 2008 at 07:52 am
Stylists can reach out to domestic-abuse victims
Tammy Paradis’ salon chair has a special effect on clients. It brings out the truth.
For more than 20 years, Paradis has snipped and colored hair while her clients have shared some of the most intimate details of their lives.
“When they sit down in this chair, it’s like truth serum,” Paradis said while adding highlights to the hair of her co-worker and client, Judy Coston. “You hear everything.”
But until recently, Paradis and her colleagues didn’t know how to help when a woman disclosed abuse at home. In late March, a representative from Harbor House — Orange County’s domestic-violence shelter — presented a two-hour class at the Cutting Edge Hair Studio in Apopka to teach stylists how to recognize signs of abuse and lead victims to call for help. The program, called “Cut Out Domestic Violence,” was adopted by the Florida Attorney General’s Office in 2004 as one way to address domestic violence, said Anna Scott, a 13-year employee of Harbor House.
