Taliban banned beauty salons run by women in its latest crackdown on the few avenues left for female employment. “All beauty salons operated by women in Kabul and other provinces should be banned immediately and follow our order,” the Ministry of Vice and Virtue said.
“Violators will face legal action,” it warned as Taliban continues to push back women from visible roles in society, forcing them to stay at home. The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Taliban’s previous restrictions which include prohibiting women from pursuing education above sixth grade, working in the government or private sector and visiting parks or using gyms. The UN said that such rules against women have made it “nearly impossible” for the international community to recognize Taliban government.
Currently, working in hospitals as nurses and doctors is the only job that women can do in Afghanistan.
“The Taliban don’t consider women as human beings but as a commodity to own and oppress,” Jamila Afghan, an Afghan women’s rights activist who fled Afghanistan and now lives in Turkey, said. The latest ban “will affect thousands of makeup artists and close hundreds of beauty shops nationwide,” she added.
Raihan Mubariz, a makeup artist, told TOLO News, “The men are jobless. When men cannot take care of their families, the women are forced to work in a beauty salon to find a loaf of bread. If they are banned there, what can we do?”
“We will not get out of the home if men (of the family) have jobs. What can we do? We should starve to death, what should we do? You want us to die,” another makeup artist said while Kabul resident Abdul Khabir told the outlet, “The government should make a framework for it. The framework should be in a way that neither Islam would be damaged nor the country.”
Afghan Herald/Agencies
