Beauty salons have their days numbered in Afghanistan. The Taliban administration, through the Ministry of Morality, has announced that they must be closed within a month, a new decision to curtail the freedom of women, with access to public places increasingly restricted.
"The deadline for closing women's beauty salons is one month," Mohammad Sadiq Akif, spokesman for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, said on Tuesday, referring to a ministry announcement. Foreign governments and senior UN officials have condemned increasing restrictions on women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after defeating a US-backed government as foreign forces withdrew.
Last year, the authorities closed most of the women's institutes, prohibited women's access to university and prevented many Afghan aid workers from working. Many public places, such as bathrooms, gyms, and parks, have been closed to women.
Beauty salons sprang up in Kabul and other Afghan cities in the months after the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, weeks after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Many remained open after the Islamists returned to power two years ago, but with their signs and windows covered, providing some women with work and their clients with their services.
Western governments and international organizations have pointed out that the restrictions placed on women hinder any possible progress towards international recognition of the Taliban administration.
The Taliban government claims that it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.
