Beauty salons in Afghanistan explained

Beauty salons in Afghanistan are small businesses that have been outlawed by the Taliban in 1996 and 2023.

Background

In early 2023, there were thousands of beauty salons in Afghanistan.^[1] Beauty salons represented one of the few employment opportunities for women in Afghanistan.^[2]

History

Beauty salons were forbidden by the Taliban from 1996 to 2001^[3] and reopened after September 11, 2001.^{[4] [5]}

After the taking power in 2021, the Taliban forbade men from entering beauty salons.^[6] Beauty salons were outlawed by Afghanistan's Vice and Virtue Ministry in 2023, who told all such businesses to cease operations before August 2, 2023. In Kabul, on July 19, 2023, about 50 women protested the ban.

See also

• Economy of Afghanistan
• Women in Afghanistan

Notes and References

1. News: Ana Nicolaci da Costa . 2023-07-19 . Afghanistan: Women protest against beauty salon closures . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-07-24.
2. Web site: Bilal . Malika . 21 July 2023 . Shutting down Afghanistan’s beauty salons . 2023-07-24 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
3. News: Yong . Nicholas . 2023-07-04 . Taliban order Afghanistan's hair and beauty salons to shut . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-07-24.
4. News: Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield . 2023-07-04 . Taliban administration orders beauty salons in Afghanistan to close . en . Reuters . 2023-07-24.
5. Web site: 2017-05-08 . How beauty parlours in Kabul are oases of glamour, positivity in war-torn Afghanistan . 2023-07-24 . . en.
6. Web site: Ramsay . Stuart . van Heerden . Dominique . 18 Aug 2022 . Afghanistan: Inside beauty salon as country lives under strict Taliban rule . 2023-07-24 . Sky News . en.