May 6, 2004

‘Cut it Out’ program to identify, battle domestic abuse

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

In December 2002, a man murdered his family and killed himself in his home near Williams Elementary School. A house once filled with laughter and hope lay eerily silent. Neighbors and friends were shocked to learn the startling facts shaping the incident, a case of frustrated domestic abuse that ended the lives of two small children, their mom and their dad. Many mourned. You pity the children, whose choices, in lives cut short at four and nine, were irrelevant to their fate.

In the wake of that horrific 2002 incident and others like it, local awareness of instances of domestic abuse continues to grow. Government agencies are now more than ever, striving to reduce the amount of domestic abuse both locally and nationally. Yet, despite a full-fledged effort exerted locally by the city of San Jose in accordance with numerous private groups, a universal trait of victims remains: they are either too scared or too uninformed to talk, resulting in a victim’s inability to escape from a bad situation.

However, the city of San Jose—under the guidance of Vice Mayor Pat Dando—the members of Santa Clara County-based Next Door Solutions to Violence, and the San Jose State University Social Work Program, are implementing a program called Cut it Out that will undoubtedly alleviate some victims’ concerns.

Cut it Out proposes an alliance, teaming hair salons with groups like Next Door Solutions to further attempt to reach out to domestic abuse victims. Many are hopeful that the program is an ideal solution to identifying victims, assisting those victims in identifying the circumstances of their own situation and, eventually, either solving those problems via police intervention or, ultimately, removal from the situation.

Proponents of Cut it Out assume that there is a unique, personalized and private dynamic to the hair stylist/customer relationship. A hair stylist embodies the position of confidant and friend, in addition to somebody the victim returns to in close visual proximity on a regular basis. By planting the stylists work area with domestic abuse awareness reminders such as literature, compacts, nail files, calendars and pens, participants hope to strike a chord with the victims. Perhaps seeing information related to their plight will result in a heightened awareness of their own situation, where the client/victim will eventually confide in the hair stylist, beginning the correction process.

Over time, whether the customer is abused or not, hair salons will become associated with answers to the atrocities set forth by domestic abuse.

“We hope that the program will spur victims to talk about their problems,” said Vice Mayor Dando, who continued, pointing out that more than 20 deaths occurred as a result of domestic violence in the Silicon Valley alone during this past year.

The broken hearts and lost lives of past domestic abuse victims must never be forgotten. The Cut it Out program is one idea based on the practicality of everyday life. There are a million other solutions out there as well, and they all make a difference.

For more information regarding Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence call (408) 279-2962. Asian Americans for Community Involvement can be reached at (408) 279-2739. Almaden Valley Counseling Service can be reached at (408) 997-0200.