Senate Bill 518 and companion House Bill 680 would mandate all licensed Beauty Professionals complete a one-time, three-hour training program on intimate partner violence awareness and education.
Licensed Professionals would include Cosmetologists, Estheticians, Nails Technicians, instructors and barbers. Hawaii State board members also want to include Massage Therapist
1/3 of women and 1/4 of men Nationwide have experienced violence from an intimate partner. Most people who seek help, don’t seek help because of domestic violence. They seek help because they are having problems in their relationship. However, once the door is open, it becomes clear what is really happening.
Therefore, it is the intent of this Bill to have as many people in a womans/mans life to have that “mirror” per se, to show the dynamics that he/she may not be seeing or knowing as abuse.
The class would train to look for signs of domestic violence as well as give resources for help. Since relationships are discussed daily and we know as a Beauty Professional we wear several hats (Technician, counselor, friend), it would help to know not just what to look for but where to lead them.
Although Hawaii is looking at a 3-hour course, Illinois passed a similar law in 2016 which mandates a one-hour course on domestic violence and sexual assault.
There are still many questions in the air about this Bill. Cost for one and the idea that this could be out of the limits of our license. Plus, many other details such as would the licensee be liable for acting – or failing to act on a given situation?
What are your thoughts? Could you pull the trigger on a client of yours involved in domestic violence? Would this be breaking the “trust” factor we have with our clients? Do you think this is an area us as Beauty Professionals should be involved in?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email your thoughts and/or your stories to cj@centreforbeauty.com