Afghan makeup artists protest against ban on women beauty salons by Taliban

Days after the Taliban ordered a new law banning women's beauty salons across the country, several women makeup artists have come out on the streets to protest against the new order. The protesters have demanded the order be withdrawn, as per the local news media outlet.

As per Afghan media, as many as 60,000 women in the country would be at risk of losing their jobs after the Taliban ordered the closure of all women's beauty parlours and hairdressing salons across the country. 

While talking to Afghanistan’s Tolo News channel, one of the makeup artists, Nadia Sultani, said, "More than 12,000 women's beauty salons are active all over Afghanistan and all of them are women. The head of every beauty salon is a woman.” Echoing the same, another makeup artist Raha Hassani stated, "A woman working in a women's beauty salon is because of hardship and poverty."

New Taliban law 

The Taliban on July 4 issued an order imposing a ban on women's beauty salons in Kabul and other provinces across the country. The Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue has supported the decree and asked the Kabul municipality to implement the same and cancel the licences of women's beauty salons.

The Emirate of Afghanistan had also banned girls and women from going to schools, universities and working at NGOs as well as going to public areas such as parks, cinemas, and other recreation areas soon after the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. 

UN on the Taliban rule on beauty salons 

UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan expressed her apprehensions at the 53rd regular session of the Human Rights Council in June 2023. During the address, she said that women's public presence has been totally erased by the Taliban. 

Earlier, the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennett said that between September 2021 and May 2023, more than 50 edicts have been issued against women and girls by the Islamic Emirate. These laws have "deprived Afghan women of the right to education, work, and participation in social and political life".

Taliban have received a harsh international backlash, further isolating the country at a time when its economy is in free fall and escalating a humanitarian crisis.