The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered beauty salons to close within a month, the morality ministry said.
Taliban administration orders beauty salons in Afghanistan to close
The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered beauty salons to close within a month, the morality ministry said.
This is the latest directive targeted at women and restricting their access to public places in the Muslim country, Reuters reports.
"The deadline for the closing of beauty parlours for women is one month," Mohammad Sadiq Akif, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, said on Tuesday, referring to a ministry notice.
SaharaReporters reported that in December 2022, Taliban authorities ordered a nationwide ban on university education for females, which was part of the authorities’ hardline approach to women's right to education and freedom.
Soon after, the Taliban authorities also ordered all national and international Non-Governmental Organisations to stop their women employees from working following complaints about their dress code.
The Taliban threatened to suspend the operating licence of any organisation that failed to comply with the directive.
Meanwhile, foreign governments and U.N. officials have condemned growing restrictions on women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after defeating a U.S.-backed government as foreign forces withdrew.
Many public places including bathhouses, gyms and parks have also been closed to women.
Beauty salons sprung up in Kabul and other Afghan cities in the months after the Taliban were driven from power in late 2001, weeks after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Many remained open after the Taliban returned to power two years ago, providing some women with jobs and their customers with their services. The salons are usually female-only and have their windows covered so that customers cannot be seen from outside.
Sahar, a Kabul resident who visited a salon every few weeks to get her hair and nails done, said she felt that a final avenue for socializing safely outside of with family had now been cut off.
"Parks are not allowed for women so it was a good place for us to meet our friends… it was a good reason to see each other, to meet other women, other girls to talk about issues," she said, asking that her full name not be published for security reasons.
"Now I don't know how to meet them, how to see them, how to talk to each other… I think it will be very impactful for us and women around Afghanistan," she said.
The administration says it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.