TWENTY-FIVE barbers have been trained as advocates for gender equality as a result of a project dubbed From the Barber Chair, conceptualised and executed by the Jamaica Mental Health Advocacy Network (JaMHAN).

The project, which was awarded a US$20,000 grant from the US Embassy pitch competition in 2019 to celebrate Women’s History Month, spanned eight months and focused on training barbers in Kingston, Clarendon and Montego Bay to be gender advocates.

Jhanille Brooks, associate counselling psychologist at JaMHAN shared that barbers between 18 and 50 years old were trained specifically in gender-based violence and mental health response.

Brooks explained that the choice of barbers was specific as the barber shop is “anecdotally a place men go to unwind and have conversations”.

“That’s where men rap a lot with other men, so I thought it would be a good place for that kind of conversation to happen. Men go and talk about every and anything, so we wanted to equip the barbers to handle anything that came up and be advocates for change,” she said.

In addition, From the Barber Chair seeks to contribute to gender equality by encouraging men and boys to become actively engaged in promoting gender equality by better understanding how gender inequality prevents both men and women from reaching their full potential. The project also sought to equip men with tools to tackle gender equality and become advocates of change.

While Brooks admits that the impact of her project is not easily measured, she said the feedback has indicated that reach is being had.

“One reached out for a referral for a psychologist in Mobay as he has been back and forth with an individual and realised he could not handle it. We were able to give that. Some have called and asked for the programme to be expanded and they call and ask for more brochures. That indicates that the message is being spread and people are utilising the resources,” she said.

Brooks added: “My barbers are of the mindset that they also need to reach out to their peers to be gender advocates so they can see women as equal.”