By Bill Cameron, WLS News
(CHICAGO) At City Hall today there was a City Council hearing on a new idea in Springfield to combat domestic violence.
The idea is to make hair dressers get an hour of training on how to spot victims of domestic violence. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez says the beauty shop is where women open up.
“There’s a lot of conversation. There’s a lot of time for conversation. So if in fact the hair dresser sees something, sees wounds, sees bruises, you know, he or she might be able to get that victim to speak out,” Alvarez said. “And so that’s what’s important. We want them to be trained and make sure they can help this person seek the help that they need.”
But in the City Council Public Safety Committee hearing, Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th), the chairman, actually made a joke about the topic.
“I went to my hairstylist yesterday and they never asked me any questions. She was done in about five minutes,” Reboyras said to some laughter.
Listen to Bill Cameron’s story for WLS news radio here:
The City Council could vote on the proposal Wednesday and it could go into effect as early as spring. The bill also holds harmless salon workers for their involvement in domestic violence cases.
@ 2015 WLS News
