Women protest in Kabul against the closure of beauty salons

Dozens of Afghan women were dispersed with water spears during a demonstration on Wednesday, July 19 in Kabul against the Taliban authorities’ decision to close beauty salons. This measure, announced in a decree published at the end of June, will lead to the disappearance of thousands of businesses run by women, whose families often have no other sources of income, and one of the last spaces of freedom and socialization for Afghan women. .

“Don’t take my bread and water”, a banner held by a protester on Butcher Street, a D.C. street that is home to several beauty salons. Demonstrations are rare in Afghanistan and are usually violently dispersed. But nearly fifty women still participated in Wednesday’s event, which quickly caught the attention of the security services. Photos and videos protesters shared with the press show law enforcement using fire hoses to disperse them.

The Ministry of Vice and Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil had justified this closure with the considerable sums spent on wedding salons, considering it a heavy burden on poor families. The proposed treatments do not respect Islamic law.

Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have excluded women from most secondary schools, universities and public administrations, barred them from entering parks, gardens, gyms and public baths, and required them to fully cover themselves when they left. Role.