Women’s rights in Afghanistan continue to be inhibited as a Taliban government spokesperson announced that women’s hair and beauty parlours would now be banned.
Overnight, the spokesperson for the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry confirmed the details of a letter dated from late June that orders all beauty parlours in the capital, Kabul, and other provinces to close within the next month. No reason was given regarding why this decision was made.
The ministry’s letter from June 24 contained a verbal order from the supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada ordering the closure of all parlours. The shops will also have to submit a report to the ministry confirming the closure.
The spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told AFP news agency, “Once they are closed then we will share the reason with the media.”
Spokesperson Mohammad Sadeq Akif Muhajir said that the ministry has given the salons enough time to shut down their operations so that they can exhaust any remaining stock and products without incurring losses.
A report by the AFP a few years ago described the country’s beauty salons as “one of the last places…where women can meet outside their households, a bubble of freedom and even frivolity away from the gaze of men.”
“Beauty salon[s] has, for now, remained a place where women can relax among themselves outside the household and share their woes — or forget them in favour of fun and fashion,” the article said.
“The oasis of feminine industry provides income for the staff and moments of indulgence for the clients.”
The AFP report from 2021 cited a letter one beauty salon owner received from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice that warned her to close down her shop.
Less than two weeks ago, the supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada released a statement saying that his government had taken the necessary steps to improve the lives of women in Afghanistan, and that they could now live a “comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia”.
Indeed, it appears his government is doing the opposite — since its takeover in August 2021 the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women, including barring girls from school, requiring women to wear burqas in public and banning women from travelling without a male chaperone.
In the final weeks last year, the Taliban escalated their restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan by banning female staff from working in foreign aid and NGOs — citing the breach of some workers to adhere to the regime’s strict dress code.