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ROCHESTER, NY (WROC) — A new beauty school program getting started in Rochester is the first of its kind in the entire nation. Miss Julie’s School of Beauty is a cosmetology school for human trafficking survivors and those at risk. While the school is still getting the logistics of space for the school sorted out, the organizers are hosting a training program for any stylists across the area to participate in.
Director and founder Julie Chapus explained the goal of the program is for area stylists to learn what red flags there might be when recognizing a victim they may be treated in their salon chair.
“There’s a lot of education out there on what human trafficking is. But there’s not a lot out there about what you do about it. And stylists are actually on the front line. To be able to truly recognize and spot victims and then to know what we can do,” Chapus said. “It’s imperative that we train our stylist, especially because traffickers use our salons. From grooming and recruiting, to exploiting, to then changing a missing person report of the picture. The amber alert pictures, for example, our industry is always being used to make people look different. It’s what we do. We’re experts at that.”
Miss Julie’s School of Beauty is partnering with Goldwell New York for the school itself as well as the upcoming event on Monday, September 19. Chapus said when she got in contact with right people to make it happen, including the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, they told her to start the program immediately.
“It’s a huge deal. In fact, Operation Cross Country 12 was an FBI-led initiative, where they went across the nation, partnering with all kinds of law enforcement, and special ops kinds of things. In two weeks, this past August, they did 391 operations, where they secured 84 minor victims of sex trafficking. 37 of those 84 were actually active missing children cases. And then they also were able to save and rescue 141 adult victims of human trafficking. And that was just across the nation within the United States,” Chapus said.
Chapus says one of the biggest misconceptions in her field is that human trafficking is not a problem in the US
“The one myth that we always get is it’s not a problem here. It’s elsewhere. It’s in Thailand, it’s in Cambodia. Yes, it is there, but it is also here. And it looks very different. And so this is why it’s imperative that we train our stylists, especially because traffickers use our salons for grooming and recruiting,” Chapus said.
The training event is taking place Monday, September 19 at 2117 Brighton Henrietta Town Line Road in Rochester. The training is three hours from 1:30 to 4:30 pm
“If you’re a salon, if you’re a stylist, you need this information. It is imperative because there are so many victims that come through our salons that you would never even recognize or know without having these signs. It’s a three -hour course, you will get certified, and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force actually approved this program and we were told across the board to start this immediately because it is so needed,” Chapus said.
To donate to Miss Julie’s School of Beauty, a GoFundMe is available.
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