Afghan beauty salon owners forced underground by new Taliban ban

One beauty specialist vows to continue working in secret after rulers demand shutdown

The Taliban have ordered the closure of beauty salons in Afghanistan. Getty

All such establishments must close by July 27. Getty

The Taliban said the closure was because beauty salons offer services forbidden under Islam. Getty

The hardline rulers included hair extensions and plucking as examples. Getty

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - JULY 08: A general view of a beauty salon on July 8, 2023 in Kabul, Afghanistan. This week, a Taliban spokesman said the group, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, was ordering the closure of beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam. (Photo by Nava Jamshidi / Getty Images)

Some who work in the beauty trade are now looking for ways to leave the country. Getty

The ruling will affect 12,000 hairdressing salons, according to the Kabul Chamber Of Craftsmen. EPA

Beauty salons are now winding down their businesses. EPA

After Nazifa's husband, a soldier, was killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan's Ghazni province in 2018, she had to find a way to support herself and her four daughters.

The girls, 14, 11, 9 and six, could join other impoverished children in piecemeal work such as selling water on the streets, but Nazifa worries for their safety and the judgment of others. Besides, her two middle children are still allowed an education, even under Taliban rule.

"Cultural norms prevent me from sending them out to work, so I had to come up with an alternative way to provide for them," Nazifa, 32, told The National.

With few other options, she decided to turn the kitchen of her home into a beauty salon, having learnt the skills from working at her mother's salon over the past two years.

Her small business offers haircuts, cosmetics, henna and waxing, and she specialises in wedding and make-up for special occasions.

“The business is poor. I am barely making 2,000 Afghanis ($23) a month," she said, compared to a high of $2,000 a month before the group regained power in 2021. Many of her clients were female government officials before the Taliban took over and the subsequent economic collapse, she added.

Now, they have all left.

But Nazifa now stands to lose even this meagre income after the Taliban ordered all beauty salons to shut down last week.

Akif Mahajar, spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said all such establishments must close by July 27.

Mr Mahajar justified the closures, claiming they offer services "forbidden" under Islam, such as hair extensions and plucking, but provided no more detail.

A tightening noose

The order issued on June 24 is the latest in a series of restrictions imposed on women, which a recent UN report described as “egregious systematic violations of women’s rights”.

Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, they have put numerous restrictions in place.

Girls over 12 are no longer allowed to attend school, universities are closed to women and all females are barred from employment in government and NGO roles.

Nazifa said the Taliban's justification for its latest restrictions was absurd, dismissing it as a flimsy excuse designed to divert international attention from more pressing issues.

“This is just a trick to get the world to notice them, they are simply trying to make their presence known and ensure that the world does not forget about them,” she said.

Each new rule tightens the noose on women's ability to work to support themselves.

Afshar, 20, was studying journalism at Kabul University when the Taliban seized control from the western-backed government. Unable to continue her education, she started working full-time at her sister-in-law's beauty salon, a big shift from the career for which she had been preparing.

Her brother, a police officer, was forced to flee the country after the Taliban began targeting members of the security forces under the former government, leaving Afshar and her sister-in-law as the sole providers for their family of nine. But that will end once the Taliban ban on salons comes into force.

"The Taliban are waging a war on women. They don't even want us to exist," Afshar said. “If we don't work, we'll starve to death."

She said she would comply with the ban but her family are looking for ways out of the country.

Lal Zazia, an economist, expressed concern over the Taliban's latest restrictions, highlighting the profound effect they could have on women who are the sole earners for their families. He suggests that women should explore “alternative avenues” such carpet weaving or embroidery to generate a source of income.

A source at the Afghanistan Chambers of Commerce and Investment, who wished to remain anonymous, said about 60,000 women had lost their jobs across the country thanks to the Taliban salon ban.

Markus Potzel, deputy special representative for the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan, said the Taliban would increase their chances of receiving international aid by granting greater freedom to girls and women.

“They should let girls go to university, they should let women work for international NGOs, for national NGOs, and for UN organisations and they should let women participate in social life,” he said.

“If this happens, I can imagine that Afghanistan would be integrated into the international community again and international donors would also rethink and probably reinforce engagement with Afghanistan."

For Nazifa, another career holds little promise – who is to say the Taliban won't come after that too?

She intends to carrying on operating in secret. The window to her salon will become a metal door and she intends to visit clients in their homes more often.

"I cannot bear witnessing my children suffer from starvation."