About the GBV Watch Salons Project

GBV Watch Salons is a European Erasmus+ project dedicated to strengthening the role of beauty workers in preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV). By combining research, training, piloting and cross-country cooperation, the project empowers beauty professionals to better support clients who may be experiencing violence.

Why Beauty Salons?

Beauty salons are intimate, trusted environments. Clients often speak openly about their personal lives, sometimes revealing early signs of violence or emotional distress. Beauty workers are uniquely positioned to observe behavioural or physical indicators. However, most professionals lack training on how to identify these signals or respond safely and ethically.
GBV Watch Salons aims to change this by empowering beauty professionals with knowledge, confidence and practical tools.
Professional

Project Goals

  1. Improve recognition of GBV indicators by beauty workers
  2. Support beauty workers in managing sensitive conversations with clients
  3. Create safe, ethical and GDPR-compliant referral pathways
  4. Strengthen national and EU cooperation on GBV prevention
  5. Raise awareness among the public and within the beauty sector

Expected Impact

By the end of the project, GBV Watch Salons will deliver concrete, measurable results:

  • 60+ beauty workers trained across Italy, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Belgium
  • 100+ stakeholders consulted (policymakers, NGOs, VET experts, social workers)
  • 1 European training toolkit openly available and free to use
  • Stronger connections between beauty salons and GBV support services
  • Improved access to help for clients experiencing violence
  • Clear policy recommendations for improving GBV prevention in the beauty sector

What the Project Does

GBV Watch Salons applies an integrated, multi-step approach to improve early detection and safe response to GBV in the beauty sector. Core activities include:

Research

on legal, institutional and social contexts in 5 countries

Interviews

with beauty workers, VET trainers and GBV stakeholders

Co-creation

of an accessible training programme with partners and experts

Piloting the training

in real beauty salons across Europe

Awareness-raising actions

for the beauty sector and wider society

Project Timeline

2024 : Research, national desk reviews, interviews, consultations

2025 : Toolkit development, expert validation, pilot testing

2026 : Dissemination, exploitation activities, final recommendations and results