Kabul Afghanistan (Commonwealth Union)_In yet another blow for women’s rights, which have been on a cliffhanger since the entry of Taliban rule in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has banned all beauty salons run by women across the entirety of the country. This diktat comes on the heels of women being banned in parks, gyms, education, and in most forms of employment. By banning beauty salons, the permeating impact on women’s entrepreneurship cannot be overstated.
Despite development and funding agencies producing study after study on the contribution women make to a country’s economic progress and development outcomes, (an advantage Afghanistan can use much of), the Taliban has systematically removed women from any form of economic contribution, cracking down on entrepreneurship ventures, employment in most forms, education at secondary and university levels, presence in most public spaces and basically any signs of independence, financial or otherwise. Even the well-being of women has been compromised with the banning of women in parks, gyms, and now beauty salons.
Salons have been given one month’s notice to close their business or face the usual harsh capital punishment meted out to those who disobey the Supreme Leader’s orders. The directive however stated that the latest edict is in consideration for the betterment of women. However, this seems a rather empty statement given that women-led households in Afghanistan are high in number and a large number of widows earn their ‘daily bread’ having begun beauty salons, which until now, followed all diktats by the Taliban. These salons are women-owned, women-run and women-staffed, which means customers do not come into contact with any men, which falls in line with the Taliban rules.
Post a brief ruling stint in the 1990s, the Taliban returned to power in 2021 promising a more moderate rule, when the US and NATO forces pulled out of Afghanistan. However, this proved to be more rhetoric than reality as the Taliban began imposing harsh crackdowns on women and media freedom, increasing the country’s isolation from the rest of the world, despite the economy collapsing and worsening humanitarian crises.
As one Afghan woman put it: “Being a woman under Taliban rule is like a death sentence being carried out in slow motion.”
