Women demonstrate against Taliban after the latest ban of beauty salons in Afghanistan

On June the 19th, Taliban security forces broke up a womens’ protest against the newest ban of beauty salons.

Around 50 women protested in the city of Kabul shouting “work, bread and justice.” The Taliban quickly reacted with fire hoses, tasers and shot guns into the air.

A salon worker said to Aljazeera: “Today, we arranged this protest to talk and negotiate. But no one came to talk to us, to listen to us.” Another worker stated that two or three of their friends were taken by the security forces. The security forces also employed tasers on to the demonstrators.

On July the 2nd, the Taliban decided to close all beauty salons within one month. According to the Taliban, wearing wigs, plucking eyebrows or wearing heavy makeup contradicts Islamic values. This ban is another severe exclusion of women from public spaces, as the salons were one of the last working sectors just for women.

Women are gradually excluded from public spaces

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, they have gradually introduced policies that significantly restrict women’s rights, like their freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

Moreover, the Taliban gradually restricted women’s right to education. This campaign first began through the Taliban introducing gender-segregated classes at universities. Later, the Taliban banned women from secondary school and university. Ever since then, Afghanistan is the only country in the world that restricts girls and women from attending secondary school and places of higher education.

Furthermore, the Taliban have step-by-step restricted Taliban women from most working sectors. In February, the authorities banned women from working for international and national NGOS.

The Taliban imposed rules for women on how to dress, how to travel as well as what kind of cell phones they are allowed to have.

“No end in sight”

“The future looks dark,” said one woman who had worked in the government to Human Rights Watch. “I had many dreams, wanted to continue studying and working. I was thinking of doing my master’s. At the moment, they don’t even allow girls to finish high school.”

“The crisis for women and girls in Afghanistan is escalating with no end in sight,” states Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Taliban policies have rapidly turned many women and girls into virtual prisoners in their homes, depriving the country of one of its most precious resources, the skills and talents of the female half of the population.”

Humanitarian crisis further deteriorates the situation of women

At the same time, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan aggravates the situation for women. The economy and social services in Afghanistan are collapsing, the country is confronted with food insecurity and on the verge of a widespread famine. The bans for women from most paid jobs especially hits families with the women as the main earners.

Women working in primary education or health care are still allowed to work, but often unpaid due to the financial crisis.

ACHRS stance

The Taliban rule is a systematic violation of the women’s fundamental human rights of education, freedom of expression and freedom of movement. The ACHRS condemns the repeated and drastic violations of human rights and keeps supporting all activists and defenders of human rights inside and outside of Afghanistan.

Furthermore, the ACHRS urges human rights organizations to keep fighting for women’s rights in Afghanistan with the goal to reverse these severe restrictions. Concerning the humanitarian crisis, the ACHRS calls on the international community to act as rapidly as possible to stop the progression of the health and famine crisis in Afghanistan.