Taliban Orders Closure of All Beauty Salons in Afghanistan

JAKARTA - The Taliban government in Afghanistan ordered the closure of all beauty salons within a month, the country's ministry said, further reducing access to public places for women.

"The deadline for closing beauty salons for women is one month," Mohammad Sadiq Akif, spokesman for the Ministry of Prevention of Crime and the Spread of Virtue told Reuters, July 5.

Beauty parlors sprang up in Kabul and other Afghan cities in the months after the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, weeks after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Many have remained open after the Taliban returned to power two years ago. It provides services as well as jobs for women. Salons are usually women-only and have closed windows, so customers cannot be seen from the outside.

Last year, authorities closed most girls' high schools, banned women from university, and stopped many female Afghan aid staff from working. Many public places including baths, gyms, and parks have been closed to women.

Sahar, a Kabul resident who visits the salon every few weeks to get her hair and nails done, said she felt the last way to socialize safely outside with her family was now cut off.

"Parks are not allowed for women so it's a good place for us to meet our friends ... it's a good reason to see each other, to meet other women, other girls to talk things over," she said, asking his real name is not published.

"Now I don't know how to meet them, how to see them, how to talk to each other... I think it will really impact us and women around Afghanistan," she said.

It is known, however, that Western governments and international organizations have signaled that restrictions on women hinder any possibility of advancing international recognition of the Taliban's rule.

Instead, the Taliban government says it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.