Ever since Taliban seized Afghanistan in 2021, the women of the Islamic nation are undergoing the worst phase of their lives. The conservative forces are leaving no stone unturned to cripple women’s freedom in addition to tyrannizing them. In another blow to women’s rights, the leader of the Islamic Emirate has issued a verbal decree, foisting a ban on beauty salons run by women in Kabul and other provinces.
Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue, Mohammad Akif Mahajar, confirmed the order and gave directives to the Kabul municipality to impose it. Consequently, it led to the cancellation of salon licenses, as reported by TOLO News, an Afghan news channel that broadcasts from Kabul, on Monday.
The latest crackdown has raised concerns as it worsens the pre-existing appalling conditions of the country. While interacting with TOLO, women shared the nightmare that they were living and revealed that they turned to beauty salons to support their families as the male members were unemployed. Raihan Mubariz, a makeup artist, said, “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?”
The enforcement of this new rule is only an addition to their misery. Besides this, the Taliban government has imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s education and employment in NGOs, and made public spaces like parks and cinemas inaccessible to them. Not only this, they are prohibited from going to the gym and from leadership posts.
The ongoing challenges faced by the women in Taliban and Afghan have sparked reactions globally.
