An Asian-Australian hairdresser has decided to publicly shame one of her sleazy male clients in the hope of deterring others in her town from making the same type of requests.
Kim Tran, 29, became the proud owner of the Walk In Barber Shop in Geraldton, a mining town in Western Australia’s mid-west, two years ago.
But since opening her shop, the hairdresser of 15 years said she has been asked to perform sexually explicit services such as ‘happy endings’ almost every day.
Kim received more than 200 of the lewd requests in her first month of business and after two years, the hairdresser is at breaking point.
‘Enough is enough,’ she told the Daily Mail Australia tearfully. ‘I can’t take it anymore.’
Kim Tran, 29, became the proud owner of the Walk In Barber Shop in Geraldton, a town in Western Australia’s mid-west region, two years ago
The hairdresser of 15 years told Daily Mail Australia that since opening she has been asked to perform sexually explicit services almost daily (pictured, Kim’s Walk In Barber Shop)
Kim has been having trouble sleeping and suffers anxiety from the constant messages, phone calls and in-person visits from sleazy clients who want more than just a haircut.
On Friday, she exposed one of the hundreds of messages she receives from single and married men, asking for sexual services.
Kim posted screenshots of messages from the man – including his phone number – and pleaded with others not to mistake her hairdressing services with those of a sex worker.
‘I would like to book in for a shave and trim with a happy ending please text me a time and cash amount,’ the man’s first message reads.
‘What happy ending are you asking about?’ Kim replied.
The customer then explained in disgusting terms: ‘Just nice rub to unload please!’
‘I don’t do a happy ending! You have to stop this,’ Kim hit back, saying she would report the man to local police.
Kim published one of the hundreds of explicit messages she receives from single and married men asking for sexual services (pictured, the text exchange with the client)
Kim (pictured) said she was scared to go to the police over fears of retaliation and said she was so busy she couldn’t take a day off to lodge a report against the men who ask for lewd requests
Kim said she was too scared to go to the police over fears of retaliation and said she was so busy she had no time to take a day off and lodge a report.
‘Sometimes I worry if I report them, then they will know and get angry and they will come back to hurt me,’ she said.
The hairdresser said the non-stop requests for sexual services had put a strain on her relationship and caused arguments with her partner.
‘He gets angry and upset,’ Kim said.
‘He sometimes asks me for their numbers so he can call them and tell them to leave me alone’.
The 29-year-old wears her engagement ring to work every day but said it does little to stop the advances – some of which come from men who know her partner.
The 29-year-old (pictured) wears her engagement ring to work every day but says this does little to stop the advances – some of which come from men who even know her partner
The clients who ask for sexual services can be as young as 19, but the majority come from men in their mid 30s to late 60s.
Kim said she gets in-person requests about twice a day and texts and phone calls asking if she offers explicit services every third or fourth day.
She has even put signs on the door and salon mirrors to remind customers she was a ‘hairdresser only’ but said the signs are mostly ignored.
One client offered her $2,000 to perform an explicit act while others have even tried to grab her mid-way through their haircut or while she’s holding the door for them.
One customer told the hairdresser he liked ‘small Asian girls’.
Since opening, Kim has had signs on the door and salon mirrors (pictured) that remind customers she is a ‘hairdresser only’ but they go mostly ignored
‘Men go to Vietnam and Thailand and it’s easy to get a girl for one night. They see an Asian girl and they think maybe she does that same service,’ Kim said.
The hairdresser is usually able to ignore the onslaught of requests for sexual services, but said in recent weeks, the unwanted attention had become unbearable.
‘I’ve been having some really rough times,’ she said through tears.
A large part of her job has become telling men no – which Kim said she does politely.
‘I say, “I’m very sorry but I am a hairdresser, I don’t do those jobs, please understand and leave me alone”,’ she said.
‘I have never got angry or crazy, even when I feel very sad. Even when people try and touch me in my shop. I tell them I am trying to earn a living for my family.’
Kim (pictured in her shop with her six-year-old daughter) said she is usually able to ignore the onslaught of lewd requests but that in recent weeks it had become unbearable
The hairdresser last week posted screenshots of a text exchange with a male customer to the Facebook page ‘Geraldton Neighborhood Watch’.
‘I am often looked down upon by others because I am Asian,’ she wrote.
‘Many people think that Asians are mostly prostitutes, so I am often texted or harassed by customers at the store.
‘I believe there are many other women who have the same problem as me but the difference is that they don’t dare say to say it because they are shy or don’t want people to judge them.’
Kim said this was why she had included the man’s personal phone number.
‘If anyone is a relative of the person with the phone number below I hope they will find out the true face of the husband and father they are living with,’ she wrote.
Kim has also got in touch with Desert Blue Connect, a women’s advocacy group, who made her feel ‘much better’ and said she deserved to be respected
The hairdresser ended her post by saying she hoped others wouldn’t do things that ‘affect the work psychology, joy or vitality’ of others.
‘I am just a barber. Please respect. Barber only,’ Kim reiterated.
Geraldton locals were quick to come to her defense with dozens of Facebook users condemning the ‘disgraceful’ request.
‘That is disgusting and no one should have to be subjected to such disgraceful and disrespectful behaviour,’ one woman wrote.
One man slammed the customer as a ‘sad individual’ and encouraged Kim to ‘rise above’ and leave it ‘along with the person who felt it in the gutter’.
‘So sorry you have to deal with this revolting creep and others like him,’ another said.
‘Hold your head high and good on you for posting this sicko’s number’.
One woman said she had received the same request mid-way though a haircut and urged her fellow hairdresser to ‘stay safe’.
Kim (pictured) hopes her post will stop the onslaught of requests from ‘creepy’ customers and give other victims of the same harassment the confidence to speak up
Kim hopes that by speaking about her experience it will stop ‘creepy’ customers from asking her to perform sexual services in her shop.
She got in touch with Desert Blue Connect, a women’s advocacy group, who made her feel ‘much better’ and said she deserved to be respected.
The hairdresser said working two jobs has left her little time to read the comments but said she felt ‘very lucky’ to receive the support of the community.
Kim also hopes sharing her story will give other women a voice.
‘I hope many other victims read my post,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
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