An upmarket US hairdresser in the posh Beverly Hills neighbourhood in Los Angeles says a homeless woman who has taken to sleeping naked on a couch outside her salon is making her customers feel “uncomfortable”.
The hairdresser, who gave her name as Debra, told ABC Eyewitness News that her customers are intimidated by the spreading homeless encampments on Hollywood’s streets.
“I have a nice clientele, but now my clientele is getting to the point where they just don’t feel comfortable,” she said.
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Debra, who has owned the salon for 20 years, has seen the problem grow dramatically over the past two years. She said she has taken to closing early because she’s afraid to walk home after dark.
Debra said she was afraid of going home in the dark
Debra said she was afraid of going home in the dark (Image: ABC 7)
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Some 40,000 people are believed to be living on the streets in the city of Los Angeles, which has a population of nearly 4 million people.
The situation is worsened by the scourge of fentanyl, a cheap opioid drug that is sweeping America.
The epidemic in LA, the largest county in the US, reached record-breaking levels in 2021, the most recent year for which there are complete records.
The once-posh streets are now a sprawling shanty town of makeshift shelters
The once-posh streets are now a sprawling shanty town of makeshift shelters (Image: ABC 7)
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Fatalities linked to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids such increased from 58,000 in 2020 to 71,000 in 2021, and the US authorities say fentanyl is now the most common drug linked to overdoses.
Alongside the naked woman’s dilapidated couch, there’s an array of unwanted furniture and makeshift shelters littering the once-spotless streets.
“I saw the couch one day out there and I think, ‘Oh my God,'” Debra said. “The next day, I came back and see she’s all over the couch and she’s just naked. She was crying. I felt bad for her, you know?
“I wanted to like give her something to cover up but I felt like if I do the little things, then I’ll have everyone coming and asking for help.”
