Mãos Empenhadas Contra a Violência Program Expands Training to Barbershops
In 2017, Brazil reported over 68,000 cases of domestic violence, revealing just a fraction of the issue, as the UN estimates that only 10% of victims globally file police reports. In response to this crisis, a groundbreaking initiative targeting gender-based violence was launched in the central-west state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The program, named Mãos Empenhadas Contra a Violência (Hands Committed Against Violence), trains beauty salon professionals to recognize signs of abuse in their clients and encourages them to report incidents and seek help.
Since its inception, the program has trained 272 beauticians in Campo Grande and has expanded to seven other cities across six states. For the first time, the initiative is now being implemented in barbershops as well.
Judge Jacqueline Machado, the program’s founder, highlights the importance of engaging men in the conversation. While the focus in women’s salons is on assisting victims, the goal in barbershops is to prevent violence by addressing potential abusers directly. The initial training sessions for barbershop workers were conducted online in the latter half of 2020 due to the pandemic, which saw a staggering 431% increase in domestic violence reports on social media during lockdowns and a 2% rise in femicides in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety.
