In the latest deprivation experienced by women in Afghanistan, the Taliban government has given one month for all hair and beauty salons in Afghanistan to be shut. A spokesman for the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry, Mohammad Sidik Akif Mahajar, did not give details or reasons for the ban. He only confirmed the content of a letter circulating on social media. The letter dated June 24, says it conveys a verbal order from the supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada.
Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, the maltreatment faced by Afghan women has continually been on the increase. Currently, girls and women have been barred from classrooms, gyms, and parks, and from working for the United Nations.
Decreeing that women should be dressed in a way that only reveals their eyes, as well as compulsorily being accompanied by a male relative if they are traveling more than 72km (48 miles), the attitude of the Taliban showcases chronic gender apartheid. With these treatments, the mental health of Afghan women is in no doubt at risk. Facial care and hair care are fundamental aspects of self-care and personal grooming, essential for both women and men, so to deny women access to these basic necessities is cruelty and injustice in the highest sense.
Despite international condemnation and protests by women and activists speaking up on their behalf, the Taliban’s unfairness to women is still thriving. An Afghan woman told BBC, “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.”
The ban targets the capital, Kabul, and other provinces, and parlors across the country have been given a month’s notice to conclude their businesses. After which they must close and submit a report of their closure.
