Taliban shuts down beauty salons; Read why

The Taliban have ordered hair and beauty parlour in Afghanistan to close in the latest limitation faced by females. 

A Vice and Virtue Ministry representative told the BBC businesses had one month to comply, beginning from 2 July when they were first told of the move.

The Merciless behaviour of Taliban on Afghanistan’s Women: 

Women’s freedoms have steadily narrowed since the Taliban took power in 2021. They have banned teenage girls and women from classrooms, gyms and gardens, and most recently, even barred them from working for the United Nations.

The Taliban have even decreed that females should be dressed in a way that only shows their eyes and must be accompanied by a male relative if they travel beyond 72km (48 miles).

The rules have continued despite global condemnation and protests by females and activists speaking on their behalf.

Closing beauty salons was part of a broad spectrum of measures set by the Taliban when they were last in power between 1996 and 2001. But they came back in the years after the 2001 US-led attack on Afghanistan.

Responding to the new rule, an Afghan woman anonymously told the media: “The Taliban are taking away the most basic human rights from Afghan women.”

“They are violating women’s rights. By this decision, they are now depriving women of serving other women. When I heard the news, I was completely shocked.”

“It seems the Taliban do not have any political plan other than focusing on women’s bodies. They are trying to eliminate women at every level of public life.”

Beauty salons stayed open even after the Taliban regained power two years back following the departure of US forces. But shop windows were usually covered up, and photos of females outside salons were spray painted to hide their faces.

The Taliban government has not clarified what prompted the veto or what options would be available to women once the salons closed.