Afghan women protest Taliban govt’s salon ban

KABUL: Women in Afghanistan staged a protest  against the Taliban government’s decision to ban beauty parlours.

“Don’t take my bread and water,” a sign at the protest reportedly read.

In a video shared by The Associated Press, security forces in Kabul were seen using gunshots fired in the air, fire hoses, and tasers to disperse the group of about 50 women that gathered outside a salon.

Dozens of Afghan women protested against a beauty salon ban Wednesday after the Taliban ordered their closure nationwide. Security forces used fire hoses, tasers and fired their guns into the air to break up the protest. pic.twitter.com/TSDyjeFCn2

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 19, 2023

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a tweet, “reports of the forceful suppression of a peaceful protest by women against the ban on beauty salons – the latest denial of women’s rights in #Afghanistan – are deeply concerning.”

“Afghans have the right to express views free from violence,” UNAMA said.

In June, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice gave salons a one-month grace period to use up their stock before shutdown.

According to the order, on the verbal instruction of leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, “extravagant sums spent on makeovers cause hardship for poor families”. Some treatments at the parlours, such as hair weaving and eyelash extensions were also deemed un-Islamic.

The order forced the closure of thousands of beauty salons in the nation run by women, barring them from their source of income and one of their few remaining outlets for socialisation.

The Taliban government since its takeover in 2021 has also banned girls and women from high schools and universities, from parks, funfairs and gyms, and ordered them to cover up in public.