Since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the draconian restrictions on women that made it infamous before it was overthrown have returned with a vengeance.
Women and girls may no longer participate in formal education above 12. After two decades of serving the state, they are now barred from public sector and judicial jobs. Added to this oppressive list are newly introduced restrictions on traveling long distances alone and a strict dress code in public.
Along with these broad-brush measures, the Taliban targets specific areas of life. Its latest attention-grabbing move is to shut down beauty salons across the country. Issued by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the ban will come into effect on July 27. According to the government, salons providing services are forbidden by its ultra-strict interpretation of Islamic religious law.
They also supposedly put undue strain on grooms' families before weddings since they customarily pay for brides' pre-wedding visits, officials added. Euronews Persian has traveledto Mazar-e-Sharif,in the center of Afghanistan's Balkh province, to speak to people at the sharp end of these changes.
Cut off
Hairdresser Marzieh Rezaei had big plans for her business before the new law."The Taliban decree is very disappointing for us. Since I was a child, I have dreamed of having a very professional beauty salon and becoming a professionalhairdresser. However, all my dreams have been destroyed by the Taliban," she told Euronews Persian.
"With the closure of beauty salons, economic problems will arise for us and our family. We will be completely disappointed." Beauty salon manager Tahereh Mohammadi described how the Taliban's restrictions have curtailed her plans for the future but also put her family's finances at risk
"I have 18 years of experience," she explained. "I started with a small hair salon and gradually established this big salon. I planned to open an expanded beauty salon. "My husband is unemployed, and I am responsible for all living expenses and even my children's education expenses."
A similar story was told by Bereshana Yaqoubi, a hairdresser whose income is vital for her household. "I have worked in this profession for two years after my internship," she said, and now I earn 1,000 to 1,500 Afghanis (about €10–15) a day. "My father died, and I have to help my family financially."
Afghanistan hair salon
Isolation
Stories like these are part of a broader fact of life in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan: Even with the economy faltering and living standards plunging, women are still excluded from the public realm and private sector.
Many are being robbed of the chance to work, leaving their families with one fewer breadwinner in dire times. This only worsens the human rights issues presented by the Taliban's gender views and embeds them in the law.
According to women's rights activist Moneseh Mubarez, the fact that the government can continue down its restrictive path is an indictment not just of the Taliban itself but of the international community. "From the point of view of international laws, human rights values, and even Sharia, it is an unforgivable crime," she said of the regime's practices. "The Taliban increases these restrictions against women every day due to political interests. Unfortunately, the world has been silent."
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