The Taliban are now banning women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
This is the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment, reports ABC News.
The ministry-issued letter, dated June 24, says it conveys a verbal order from the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. The ban targets Kabul and all provinces, and gives salons throughout the country a month’s notice to wind down their businesses. After this period, they must close and submit a report about their closure.
Its release comes days after Akhundzada claimed that his government has taken the necessary steps for the betterment of women’s lives in Afghanistan.
The United Nations has stated on Tuesday it was engaged with the authorities in Afghanistan to get the ban on beauty salons reversed. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, took to Twitter, urging the Taliban to halt the edict.
„This new restriction on women’s rights will impact negatively on the economy&contradicts stated support for women entrepreneurship”, it said.
Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out.
They have barred women from public spaces, like parks and gyms, and cracked down on media freedoms. The measures have triggered a fierce international uproar, increasing the country’s isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed — and have worsened a humanitarian crisis, reports ABC News.
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