If a new bill is approved it would place the cosmetology industry on the front lines of domestic violence prevention.
The bill would amend the general business law, and provide beauty industry professionals the option to take a domestic violence and sexual assault training course when they renew their license.
That option isn’t available at the moment.
Senate Bill S96, sponsored by Senator Todd Kaminsky, states that the courses would be offered at least annually. Those who take at least one hour of domestic violence and sexual assault education would receive a certificate of completion.
Jacquie Grabowski has been in the industry for 15 years, and owns a salon in Syracuse. She spoke with WSYR-TV about the benefits of this type of law change.
“I’ve had some pretty scary situations happen where I have had to try and seek help other places and I’ve actually not found it,” Grabowski said. “More recently I did call a suicide hotline for a client and I was directed to call the police, so they really didn’t give me much guidance on that.”
“We have a lot of stuff put on us and we’re also trying to make them beautiful, so we also want to be able to have a safe place within ourselves to kind of like chat about it, digest it, and figure out within each other,” she added.
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.