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Barber Taken To Human Rights Court After Refusing To Cut Girl's Hair

Barber Taken To Human Rights Court After Refusing To Cut Girl's Hair

He's going to have to bob and weave to get out of this hairy situation.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

An Australian barber has been summoned before the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission after he refused to cut a young girl's hair because he isn't trained to do so.

Sam Rahim is a barber at the Hunters Hill Barber Shop on Sydney's North Shore. Last December, a woman brought her young daughter into the shop for a haircut and asked if he would cut her daughter's hair.

Being aware of the difference between cutting men's and women's hair, he politely refused.

Nine News

However, the woman refused to accept his refusal and became angry.

He said: "I refused politely. I explained I'm not qualified to cut women's or girls' hair. I've never done it.

"But she kept pressing me, saying I should just do it. I told her there are three women's hair salons within a minute's walk but she became angry and stormed out."

Rahim is not trained to cut the hair of girls and has no experience of it - which you'd have to presume would be why he refused.

I mean, think about it - that is basically the same as walking into any shop whatsoever and asking them to cut your hair. You only have yourself to blame if you get a bad haircut from someone who hasn't been trained to cut hair.

Nine News

However, he has been summoned before the commission for allegedly breaching discrimination laws and has been told that he embarrassed the young girl.

He continued: "She might have been more embarrassed walking to school if I'd butchered her hair."

As you might imagine, it takes a vastly different set of skills to cut the hair of girls. Rahim just admitted that he didn't have those skills.

He also rightly pointed out that a barber shop is "a place where men get their hair cut."

Luckily for him, he is not on his own in this fight.

The Australian Hairdressing Council is fighting his corner and supports his view that if he is not trained to cut the hair of girls then he should not offer to give haircuts to girls.

Sandy Chong, a spokesperson from the AHC, said: "I understand why he wouldn't be comfortable cutting women's hair."

He's now had to hire a lawyer and, with a young family to provide for, he is understandably worried about the effect this might have on his business.

The woman who complained - who remains anonymous so as to protect the identity of her daughter - released a statement that read: "A claim has been brought against Hunters Hill Barber Shop in the Federal Circuit Court for an alleged breach of the Sex Discrimination Act.

"The basis of the claim is that the barber shop refused to simply run the clippers through my daughter's undercut, because she was a girl."

Nine News

The statement continued: "I indicated to him that I did not need him to style, cut or trim the rest of her hair, which is styled in a 'bob'.

"Mr Rahim's explanation was that he wished to keep his barber shop for boys and men only. He never said he was not qualified to cut women or girls' hair, as he has incorrectly reported to the media."Featured Image Credit: Nine News

Topics: World News, News, Sydney, Australia