Afghanistan: Women’s Rights and Restriction of Freedom

Following the Taliban insurgence in Afghanistan, all beauty salons must shut down within a month.

In the latest restriction on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, edicts have been put in place to restrict women from going to school, entering public spaces and most forms of employment.

The latest move, shutting down beauty salons, was part of a wide range of measures imposed by the Taliban when they were in power between 1996 and 2001. Beauty salons were reopened after 2001 when the US-led invasion of Afghanistan occurred. While there has been continued criticism of the restriction of the liberties of Afghan women, tangible financial support that could aid the emancipation of women is sparse. The UN has received less than 15% of its $4.6 billion appeal for Afghanistan, as overseas demands have been increasingly diverted to the War in Ukraine.

Beauty salons are emblematic of yet a further restriction on the freedom of Afghan women and a regress to the practices of the previous Taliban administration. There have been reports of the Taliban using Tasers and gunfire to break up protests led by women, including make-up artists, against the restriction– shouting ‘work, bread and justice’ in the streets of Kabul. Any major forms of dissent against, apart from a few sporadic protests, is being actively crushed.

The Taliban argue that these establishments present issues in Islamic Law and are unfair to the families of women’s spouses. Women in the beauty industry have limited options: a few are planning to open clandestine salons and there are worries that some women may even turn to prostitution.

One shop owner told The Times that “so many educated people just asking for a seat, saying I just want somewhere for myself.” Meanwhile, the US special envoy for Afghan women and human rights tweeted “The Taliban ban on beauty parlours removes another vital space for women’s work at a time when they’re struggling to feed their families, eliminates one of the few refuges for women outside the home and further transforms the country into a cruel and extreme outlier in the world.”