A sweeping ban ordering the closure of Afghanistan’s beauty salons is now in effect under the Taliban government. Image credit: Polina Tankilevitch via Pexels.
A sweeping ban ordering the closure of Afghanistan’s beauty salons is now in effect, a month after it was announced by the country’s Taliban government.
There are approximately 12,000 beauty salons across the country, employing around 60,000 women, some of whom are the sole income providers for their household.
Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban government has introduced a number of measures drastically restricting the rights of women and girls, despite promises made to the contrary.
Women have been barred from work in most professions, from secondary and tertiary education, and from public spaces such as parks and gyms.
Until now, Afghanistan’s beauty salons were one of the few avenues by which women could earn an income, and one of the few spaces under Taliban rule where women could meet and socialise with one another.
The Taliban stated the reason for the ban was that beauty services offered by the salons, such as eyebrow shaping, hair weaving and the application of makeup, interfere with the ablutions required before offering prayers and are therefore forbidden by Islam.
They also claimed that such beauty services caused economic hardship for the families of grooms during wedding festivities, as it is customary that they pay for these services for the bride and her close female relatives.
Public protests are rare in Afghanistan, however, roughly 50 women took up protest in the capital of Kabul in response to the announcement of the ban.
The protest attracted the attention of security forces, who used fire hoses, tasers, and fired guns into the air to disperse protesters.
“Today, we arranged this protest to talk and negotiate,” said a salon worker, who did not wish to be identified.
“But today, no one came to talk to us, to listen to us. They didn’t pay any attention to us and after a while, they dispersed us by aerial firing and water cannon.”
Akif Muhajir, spokesman for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that protesters “should have paid attention to the notification we had issued earlier.”
Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director for Human Rights Watch Heather Barr spoke on the closure of the salons.
“This isn’t about getting your hair and nails done. This is about 60,000 women losing their jobs,” said Barr.
“This is about women losing one of the only places they could go for community and support after the Taliban systematically destroyed the whole system put in place to respond to domestic violence.”
Bahara, a customer of one of Kabul’s salons, expressed the same sentiment.
“We used to come here to spend time talking about our future together. Now even this right has been taken away from us.”
