Woman refused cut by St Helier barber 'based on gender'

Cloe Freeman said she was "point-blank refused" service at Misters Mens Hairdressers

A woman says she was refused service at a barber's shop because of her gender.

Cloe Freeman approached Misters Mens Hairdressers in St Helier, Jersey, looking for a "fade" style cut.

The 29-year-old said the barber in the shop told her they did not cut women's hair.

A spokesman for the business told the BBC they were too "busy" to serve Ms Freeman at the time and the hairdresser trained to cut women's hair had not been available.

Ms Freeman, a civil servant, said barbers specialise in the "fade", a style in which the sides and back are closely shaven, gradually tapering to a longer length on top.

"On this occasion, I was point-blanked refused as soon as I walked through the door."

She said she was told, "no we don't do women," and added: "My initial response was confusion. I was shocked to have been met with such a straight-up rejection."

Why do women pay more for a short haircut?

Ms Freeman said before the incident on 6 January she had not encountered any problems getting her hair cut by other barber shops on the island.

A partner at Misters Mens Hairdressers told the BBC the only barber available at the time was not trained to cut women's hair.

"We do offer women haircuts, but we would ask her to come back another day. We can't do every woman that asks," she added.

Under Jersey's Discrimination Law 2013, businesses cannot refuse to provide goods or services on the basis of sex, unless "only persons of [a] sex have need of the service" and a joint service for all would be "insufficiently effective".