ECU partners with area salons to fight domestic violence

On April 25 and 26, the Office of Victim Services will hold fundraisers in local salons to raise money for domestic violence and to promote "Cut It Out," a national organization aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence.

According to their Web site, "Cut It Out is a program of the Salons Against Domestic Abuse Fund, dedicated to mobilizing salon professionals and others to fight the epidemic of domestic abuse in communities across the United States."

Cut It Out is a national program that builds awareness of domestic violence by displaying awareness materials in salons, involving salons in the Adopt-a-Shelter initiative to help local domestic violence agencies, and training salon professionals to recognize warning signs and safely refer clients to resources.

Levinia Tyrrell, a senior criminal justice major and intern in the Office of Victim services, is bringing the program to Pitt County salons. Tyrrell said that interning in the Office of Victim services helped her realize how serious and common domestic violence is.

"I'm an intern at the Office of Victim Services and before I never knew about how important [domestic violence awareness] was and I never knew how much of a big deal [domestic violence] was," she said. "So I wanted to have a program that would reach out to not only the campus, but the community as well. To let people know they're not the only one in domestic violence relationships."

There are four participating salons in Greenville-Lavender Days, Tingen and Company, Matt Holden Salon and Cutty Styles. Each salon will have donation boxes and talk to their clients about the Cut It Out program. All proceeds will be given to the Pitt County Family Violence Shelter.

Cut It Out offers educational seminars about domestic violence across the country. Seminars are conducted in cosmetology schools, continuing education classes, hair shows and many other venues. Seminars can also be conducted in local salons and provide salon professionals with basic information about domestic violence and specific information about how to respond to a client who may be a victim of abuse.

The program was created for the State of Alabama by The Women's Fund of Greater Birmingham, and taken to the national level by the Salons Against Domestic Violence Fund.

The Salons Against Domestic Violence Fund is a partnership between Clairol Professional, the National Cosmetology Association and Southern Living At HOME.

Although Tyrrell is a graduating senior, she is taking steps to ensure that ECU's involvement with the Cut It Out program continues after she leaves. She will be in the Greenville area in the fall and plans to help train the next intern to take over the project. She also gave information packets to participating salons so they can learn more about the Cut It Out program and hopes they and other area salons will participate in the training that the program offers.

Tyrrell hopes her efforts will help people "take action toward building a healthy relationship or getting out of an abusive relationship."

"It's really important for people to come out and talk about it," she said. "Sometimes people don't know what to do."

Research shows that although most battered women never call the police or go to a shelter, they do confide in someone they trust. Salon professionals often have personal, ongoing relationships with their clients and are likely to notice changes in their physical condition or behavior. In addition, because salons are usually all-female environments, it is one of the few places that battered women are allowed to go without their abusers.

Salon professionals typically see around 200 clients every four to six weeks, and have a unique opportunity to reach victims that domestic violence professionals don't have. Cut It Out aims to give salon professionals training to recognize signs of domestic violence so they can use their positions to help victims escape abusive environments.

The Office of Victims Services was established in 2005 to provide victim advocacy services to individuals whose lives have been affected by crime. Their goal is to provide for the emotional needs of victims as well as safeguard their constitutional rights. They are available to assist victims of crime on-and-off campus, including, but not limited to, stalking, harassment, domestic and relationship violence, sexual assault, aggravated assault and identity theft. They assist with crisis intervention and emergency assistance, emergency walk-in services, victims' compensation for reimbursement of medical bills, accompaniment through criminal proceedings (assistance with making a police report) and follow up on the status of a case.

For more information about advocacy services, contact Sue Molhan at 737-1466 or molhans@ecu.edu or visit ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/victimservices.

For more information about domestic violence or Cut It Out and resources for victims of abuse, visit cutitout.org.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.