Taliban ordered the closure of beauty salons and hairdressers in Afghanistan

2023-07-05 03:21:53

The latest decision by the Taliban government to close beauty salons in Afghanistan will cause the disappearance of thousands of businesses, often the only resource for their families, and one of the last spaces for freedom and socialization for Afghan women.

“I think it would be better if women didn’t exist in this society,” says the manager of a salon in Kabul sadly, who requested anonymity. “I say it now: I would like not to exist. I wish we had not been born in Afghanistan, ”she reiterates.

Since their return to power in August 2021, the Muslim fundamentalist Taliban have excluded women from most secondary schools, universities and public administration. Nor can they work for the UN and international organizations, access parks, gardens, gyms or public bathrooms, or travel without being accompanied by a male relative, and they must fully cover themselves when leaving home.

The new measure, evoked days ago on social networks, was confirmed to AFP by Mohammad Sadeq Akif Muhajir, the spokesman for the Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue. The spokesman did not justify the decision. “Once they have been closed, we will give the reasons to the media,” he declared.

A month has been given for the closure so that businesses can exhaust their stocks, he explained. According to the decree, the decision “is based on a verbal instruction from the Supreme Leader” of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Beauty salons proliferated in Kabul and large Afghan cities during the 20-year occupation by US and NATO forces. These venues were seen as a safe space for women to meet without the presence of men and allowed many Afghans to start their own businesses.

“Women were used to talking. Here there was no fighting, there was no noise”, explains an employee of a beauty institute, who asked to be called Neelab. “When we see happy and energetic faces, it gives us life too. The salons have a very important role: this place allows us to feel good”, she adds.

Another manager states that she employs 25 women, all of whom are heads of household. “They are devastated (…) What do they have to do?” She asks herself. In a report submitted last week to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur for Afghanistan, said the situation for women in that country “was one of the worst in the world.” “Serious, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of the Taliban’s ideology and power,” he said.

Hibatullah Akhundzada recently stated that the country’s women were saved from “oppression” by the Taliban and that he would do everything to guarantee them “a comfortable and prosperous life” in accordance with Islamic law.

Raha (pseudonym), who was a student before she was no longer allowed to go to university last year, went to a beauty salon on Tuesday to prepare for an engagement party. “It was the last place where women could make a living and they want to take it out as well,” she said. “It’s a question for all of us: why are they doing this?”