Following the Taliban’s announcement of a ban, beauty parlors in Afghanistan may close due to worries about their influence on wedding costs and religious considerations. After a month-long deadline, the announcement was made.
Although the Taliban did not outline the penalties for disobeying, there was very little popular protest.
According to the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry, beauty parlors provide services that are prohibited in Islam, such as eyebrow shaping, the use of other people’s hair for hair augmentation, and the application of cosmetics. All of which they claim to interfere with the compulsory ablutions before prayer.
In addition to past directives that limited Afghan women’s access to economic prospects, public areas, and education, the ban on beauty parlors is the most recent restriction placed on them.
Beauticians and makeup artists protested against the decision in Kabul, which was a rare instance of a public demonstration. Using fire hoses, tasers, and gunfire into the air, security personnel dispersed the crowd.
International organizations have expressed worry about the restriction, particularly with regard to its effects on female businesses.
According to PTI, the UN has been negotiating with Afghan officials to get the ban lifted.
The de facto authorities have been urged to stop the order by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), who have highlighted its detrimental effects on the economy and women’s entrepreneurship.
In addition to worries about women’s rights, several have brought up the ban’s economic repercussions. The restriction has severely curtailed one of the only locations where women could find community and support following the takeover of the Taliban, and some 60,000 women who work in the beauty parlor business might lose their employment as a result.
The most recent actions of the Taliban have drawn criticism from throughout the world despite early assurances of a more moderate government than during their last tenure in power in the 1990s.
Women’s liberties in the media and public areas have been curtailed as a result of these actions, raising worries about the isolation of the nation and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the midst of a failing economy.
