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ISLAMABAD: In the latest round of restrictions on women, the Taliban-led Afghan government has imposed a ban on beauty salons run by women, putting hundreds of workers out of work as the war-torn country grapples with grinding poverty.
“All beauty salons run by women in Kabul and other provinces should be banned immediately and follow our orders,” the Vice and Virtue Ministry said in a text message on Tuesday, adding that it had one month, starting from July 2, to comply. with the request. “Violators will face legal action,” ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq Akif Mohajer warned.
Before the ban on beauty salons, the Taliban banned girls from entering schools, gyms, parks, and swimming pools. Recently, they even banned women from working in the United Nations. Earlier, the Taliban ordered strict dress codes for women and restricted their movement, directing them not to travel without a male relative (mahram).
The restrictions have continued despite international condemnation and protests by the women as well as the activists who have spoken out on their behalf.
The closing of beauty salons was part of a wide range of measures imposed by the Taliban when they were last in power between 1996 and 2001. But they reopened in the years following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and hundreds of beauty salons were established throughout Kabul. and other Afghan cities in the past two decades.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described Afghanistan as the most restrictive country in the world in terms of the rights of women and girls. According to Human Rights Watch, women have been dismissed from all leadership positions and need to be accompanied by a male guardian while they travel in most provinces of Afghanistan. The report also states that “women also do not have the right to most jobs, and they are also prohibited from working with international NGOs (except for health care, nutrition and primary education).”
In response to the new lockdown, an Afghan woman told the BBC that the Taliban were taking away the most basic human rights from Afghan women. It appears that the Taliban do not have any political plan other than focusing on women’s bodies. “They are trying to eliminate women from every level of public life,” she said.
Kabul did not explain the reason for the ban or what alternatives, if any, would be available to women once the salons closed.
“All beauty salons run by women in Kabul and other provinces should be banned immediately and follow our orders,” the Vice and Virtue Ministry said in a text message on Tuesday, adding that it had one month, starting from July 2, to comply. with the request. “Violators will face legal action,” ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq Akif Mohajer warned.
Before the ban on beauty salons, the Taliban banned girls from entering schools, gyms, parks, and swimming pools. Recently, they even banned women from working in the United Nations. Earlier, the Taliban ordered strict dress codes for women and restricted their movement, directing them not to travel without a male relative (mahram).
The restrictions have continued despite international condemnation and protests by the women as well as the activists who have spoken out on their behalf.
The closing of beauty salons was part of a wide range of measures imposed by the Taliban when they were last in power between 1996 and 2001. But they reopened in the years following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and hundreds of beauty salons were established throughout Kabul. and other Afghan cities in the past two decades.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described Afghanistan as the most restrictive country in the world in terms of the rights of women and girls. According to Human Rights Watch, women have been dismissed from all leadership positions and need to be accompanied by a male guardian while they travel in most provinces of Afghanistan. The report also states that “women also do not have the right to most jobs, and they are also prohibited from working with international NGOs (except for health care, nutrition and primary education).”
In response to the new lockdown, an Afghan woman told the BBC that the Taliban were taking away the most basic human rights from Afghan women. It appears that the Taliban do not have any political plan other than focusing on women’s bodies. “They are trying to eliminate women from every level of public life,” she said.
Kabul did not explain the reason for the ban or what alternatives, if any, would be available to women once the salons closed.
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