The Taliban in Afghanistan have closed cosmetic and hair salons for women, initially for four weeks. For women, these were one of the last opportunities to make money – and a place of retreat.
A beauty salon in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. The gold-framed mirrors are brightly lit. A pompous chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The salon is still open. Hairdresser Zarafshan arranges cosmetic products. The young woman has been working here for a year, she tells the AP news agency. She wears a headscarf and has covered her face with a medical face mask. She looks down most of the time when she speaks.
“In the past day or two, the Taliban have issued an order to close the beauty salons. I ask you not to do that, because we work here to earn some legal money. The schools are banned for women, the beauty salons are forbidden for women – doesn’t a woman have the right to live in society?”
Many beauty salons in Kabul
In the center of Kabul there is one beauty salon after the next. For the past 20 years, they have been a good way for women to earn money, often as the only source of income for the family. In addition, the shops were a protected space where they could meet and exchange ideas.
But since the Taliban came to power, shops have had to mask their shop windows. A spokesman for the Ministry of Virtue did not give any more precise reasons for the ban that has now been issued. He only confirmed a letter that was already circulating on social media: According to this, all beauty and hairdressing salons in the capital Kabul and in all provinces of the country must close in the next four weeks.
Hairdresser Yelda: “Women have no value”
Most beauty salons are still open in the city of Herat, about 800 kilometers west of Kabul. Hairdresser Yelda Azizi shows a customer different shades of hair dye. She says: “We heard this news a few days ago. In my opinion, this is not a good action. Everything has been closed, women have no value in this society. I am disappointed.”
The young woman is afraid of the future. Until now, as a beautician, as one of the few women in Afghanistan, she still had an opportunity to earn money. And now with the latest Taliban ban?
“I think if the store closes I’ll have to sit at home unemployed with nothing. My only hope was that I could still work here. I know if I sit at home I’ll get sick,” she says.
According to a report by the UN Human Rights Council, the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan is among the worst in the world. Their systematic discrimination is at the heart of the Taliban’s ideology.