How would abusive men tackle traumatic pasts? Barbershop movement shows the way.

The ‘She is not your rehab’ movement is empowering men to address domestic violence by healing from past traumas through honest conversations. The barbershop is known as a place “where men go to heal” and is now calling men to deal with their childhood pain and abuse, instead of projecting it onto their relationships. 

Owner Matt Brown, an author, speaker and internationally acclaimed barber, said his business has become a safe space where men could open up about the issues affecting them.

“This is a movement for whānau (Whānau is a Māori-language word for extended family), because if men take responsibility for their own healing that will heal the whole family and if women take responsibility for their own healing and do not rescue men, that will heal the whole family, because our kids are watching.” Mr Brown said. – RNZ News

When a man is able to provide a woman with a feeling of being protected by a man, it allows her to feel safe in the relationship and as a result, she will respect him, feel attracted to him and love him for that. In the current world, the man plays a very special role which affects not only his current family but also later generations.

It is very important to continuously attend to and protect our relationships with the important people in our lives as well as taking time to strengthen the communities to which we belong.

There is a saying in Vietnamese: “Men are the ones who build the house, while women are the ones who create the home”