Taliban shuts down women's beauty salons in Kabul

In Kabul, the Taliban have closed dozens of home-based beauty salons, intensifying restrictions on women’s rights to work and earn a living.

Several female cosmetologists in Kabul revealed that Taliban morality police agents raided their homes, confiscated salon equipment, and forced family members to sign written commitments to prevent the continuation of their work, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“They took our tools and warned that if we continue, we will be arrested and taken to court. I hid my equipment elsewhere, but I still live in fear,” one Afghan beautician said.

Women also reported that the Taliban agents demanded male relatives to appear at local district offices, where they were coerced into signing guarantees. Some women described inappropriate behavior by the agents.

Since the Taliban banned all official beauty salons last July, these home salons had been operating privately. While previous detentions of cosmetologists by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ended with releases after a few hours, this new campaign appears broader and more severe, according to the report.

By Khagan Isayev