Taliban Cracks Down on Underground Beauty Salons Across Afghanistan

The Taliban has escalated its crackdown on Afghan women by targeting underground beauty salons, ordering them to shut down within a month or face arrest, thereby closing one of the few remaining sources of income and safe spaces for women. Despite an official ban on beauty salons in August 2023 that led to the closure of 12,000 businesses and unemployment for over 50,000 female beauticians, many salons continued operating secretly, offering women a means of livelihood and a rare sense of empowerment. The Taliban has instructed community leaders to identify and report these clandestine salons to the "vice and virtue" police, intensifying the enforcement of their strict interpretation of Islamic law and further restricting women's freedoms. Women like Frestha, a mother of three and sole breadwinner, express despair over losing this critical income source, highlighting the dire economic and social consequences for families dependent on these businesses. This latest measure adds to a series of severe restrictions imposed since the Taliban regained control in 2021, including bans on women's education, employment, and public presence, effectively isolating and marginalizing Afghan women. Human rights groups describe these policies as a system of gender apartheid that erases women from public life and denies them basic rights and opportunities.