Hairstylists are being trained by officials from the Onondaga County Health Department to recognize signs of physical abuse and to refer women to hot lines, counseling services, and county or state law enforcement agencies. The program, run by a Health Department division called Syracuse Healthy Start, is being applauded statewide.
Hairstylists are on the front lines.
Syracuse Healthy Start is sponsoring educational workshops throughout Onondaga County to teach stylists how to spot the warning signs of abuse from body language to checking for bumps on the head and neck. Maizie Shaw, associate director of Syracuse Healthy Start, said stylists should not play the role of victim counselor. We're not asking them to be counselors. Although final statistics are not available, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services estimates that 500,000 domestic incident reports were filed by law enforcement agencies statewide in 1998. And the hairstylists program is a specific example of a great way to reach large groups of women.