Local Flatbush Salon Brings Awareness To Human Trafficking | Prospect Heights, NY Patch

On Friday, Oct. 7, Vedette Beauty & Skincare is partnering with the Brooklyn District Attorney's office to host Strength & Beauty, a wellness day celebration honoring survivors of human sex trafficking with free makeovers while educating the public on preventive measures.

Owner Khadine Barakat was shocked when a client shared her story about her daughter being trafficked.

The young girl idolized a glamorous friend who then recruited her, Barakat said, and she only got out because of a kind detective who met her at a hospital when a friend of the daughter — another trafficking victim — was beaten so badly she needed care.

“I didn't realize how it can happen through friends,” Barakat said.

Her client and her daughter had to move multiple times for their safety in the aftermath. And when Barakat heard her story, she knew she wanted to help in some way.

“From the start, I knew I wanted to do something to help young women feel beautiful and powerful,” Barakat said.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that education around human trafficking is essential, because reporting relies heavily on community members.

“An important component of our Human Trafficking Task Force's mission is to increase the community's capacity to identify trafficking and report it,” Gonzalez said, “education is the key to prevention and so I commend this effort to raise awareness about this intractable issue.”

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, over 63,000 trafficking cases were reported between 2007 and 2019. Of those cases, more than 2,900 took place in New York. The average age of a human sex trafficking victim is 13 years old.

As a mother of two, Barakat says it's important to teach young people inner beauty and strength.

“Growing up with acne, there was nobody to help me with my skin in Brooklyn,” she said, “and that's why I wanted to operate in this neighborhood and serve the community.”

And learning the confidence to avoid being lured into trafficking takes time and strength, Barakat said.

“I just want young ladies to know that if you have a vision to write it down and just know that it will take time,” she said, “nothing good comes easy, and if it does, it won't last.”