Kabul, all beauty salons to close within a month

Kabul, all beauty salons to close within a month

“I have been working here for a year, in the last 2 days the Taliban issued the order to close the beauty salons. I ask you please not to do this.”

It is the latest act against women's rights, the ban on beauty salons by the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Last July 4, the Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue ordered the closing of salons within a month, in Kabul and throughout the province.

Like many women, Zarafshan, a professional makeup artist, she is scared for her future, especially now that she will lose not only her job, but one of the last remaining opportunities for women in Afghanistan to socialize and meet away from home and men. “Schools are forbidden to women, beauty salons are forbidden to women, doesn't a woman have the right to live in society?”.

Salons have increased substantially from 2001 onwards, are usually reserved for women and have covered windows so customers cannot be seen from outside. A usual meeting place for women, which they will soon have to give up. Now the faces of the models on the advertising billboards of the salons appear disfigured and defaced. Many have been covered and obscured.

Sahar, A Kabul resident who went to a salon every two weeks to get her hair and nails done told The Guardian she felt as if one last avenue of safe socializing outside had been severed: “Parks are not allowed for women, so it was a good place to meet our friends… and talk about problems. Now I don't know how to meet them. I think it will have a great impact for us and for women across Afghanistan."he said.

Many women who have lost their husbands and are the only source of support for the family carried out this profession, one of the very few remaining accessible. Now it will be difficult for them to find money to feed their children.

Mohammad Sadeq Akif Muhajir, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, declined to share the reasoning behind the new order. He stated that the reasons will be made public once the salons are closed.

Previous bans applied to women, such as working in NGOs and attending university, had until now been given fictitious reasons regarding safety at work and the impossibility of guaranteeing a safe environment. In this case the working environment is made up of only women, therefore it is excluded that the motivation could really be safety.

Just a week earlier, on June 25th, the supreme leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, stated that the measures taken by the government have improved the lives of women, in harmony with the provisions of Sharia, Islamic law.

Between anger and dismay, many women are increasingly disillusioned with the role to which the Taliban government has been relegating them since it came to power in August 2021.
Not women, not people, but mothers and wives subjected to their husbands under the pretext of Sharia, Islamic law.
Husbands and men who in most cases are violent and abuse - physically, psychologically or verbally - their partners and daughters. According to the March 2023 United Nations mission report in Afghanistan, 9 out of 10 women suffer violence from husbands or men belonging to their family. It is the worst country in the world for its treatment of women and the only one to have banned half its population from access to education.
According to the speakers and members of the mission, there are all the elements to include the Taliban's actions against the rights and freedom of women in the country among crimes against humanity.

In a Tweet, Richard Bennett, United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan: “The Taliban's decision to ban Afghan women from work is another serious violation of their fundamental right to non-discrimination, is contrary to the United Nations Charter and will have a serious impact on essential services for Afghans. Female staff is essential. I urge the Taliban to reverse the decision immediately.”

Already in August 2021 the Taliban invited women not to go to work for "security reasons". Only those who worked in the healthcare sector were able to continue working.

Just a month after taking power, in September 2021, the administration has prevented women from playing cricket, preventing them from participating even in official matches.
in the same month the order arrived not to appear in public without a male guardian. They are banned from parks, public toilets, gyms and sports clubs. Even if not in public, they cannot travel unaccompanied by a man for journeys longer than 75km.

The 17 September 2021 the announcement has arrived of the reopening of secondary schools but only for boys and male teachers. The Ministry for Women's Affairs was dismantled and the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice was established.

The 21 December 2021 the Ministry of Education issues a written order with which it comes university education for women was suspended, both in public and private universities. In many schools, female staff are also told that they are no longer needed, that lessons for girls may not resume after the winter break.

A few days later, on December 24, a new directive prevents women from working in NGOs and government organizations such as the UN.

In January 2023 girls are permanently banned from private universities.

In March 2023, numerous cases of divorce annulment and forced reunification were reported, in most cases with abusive husbands.