Thousands of beauty salons are set to close permanently in Afghanistan on Tuesday after a Taliban decree took effect, depriving women of one of their few sources of income and one of their last places of freedom, AFP and Agerpers reported.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have excluded women from most high schools, universities and public administrations, banned them from parks, gardens, gyms and public baths and forced them to cover themselves fully when leaving the house.

The decision, announced in a decree issued in early July, to close thousands of beauty salons across the country run by women, deprives them of what is often the only source of income for their families and one of the last places where they can meet freely outside their increasingly closed homes.

“We used to come here and spend time discussing our future. Now even this right has been taken away from us,” says Bahara, a client of a salon in Kabul.

“Women are not allowed in entertainment establishments, so what to do? Where can we have fun? Where can we meet?” – she adds.

According to the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the ban on beauty salons will result in 60,000 women working in 12,000 establishments losing their income.

Afghan women tried to protest against the new decision of the Taliban

Last week, security forces fired in the air and used water cannons to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting in Kabul against the decree.

The Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, confirming the measure days after the decree was issued, said salons have one month, until Tuesday, to close to sell their stock.

The ministry justified the closure on the grounds that bridal salons spent excessive amounts of money, considered it too heavy a burden on poor families, and that some of the procedures offered were not in accordance with Islamic law. The ministry explained that too much makeup prevents women from ablution properly before prayer, and false eyelashes and hair extensions are also prohibited.

A written copy of the decree, seen by AFP, shows that the decision is based “on a verbal directive from Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.”

Beauty salons proliferated in Kabul and major cities in Afghanistan during the 20-year occupation by US and NATO forces before the Taliban returned to power.