KABUL: Security officials shot in the air and used firehoses Wednesday to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting in Kabul against an order by Taliban authorities to shut down beauty parlors, the latest curb to squeeze them out of public life.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban government has barred girls and women from high schools and universities, banned them from parks, funfairs and gyms, and ordered them to cover up in public.
The order issued last month forces the closure of thousands of beauty parlors nationwide run by women – often the only source of income for households – and outlaws one of the few remaining opportunities for them to socialize away from home.
“Don’t take my bread and water,” read a sign carried by one of the protesters on Butcher Street, which boasts a concentration of the capital’s salons.
Public protests are rare in Afghanistan – and frequently dispersed by force – but AFP reported around 50 women taking part in Wednesday’s gathering, quickly attracting the attention of security personnel.
Protesters later shared videos and photos with journalists that showed authorities using a firehose to disperse them as shots could be heard in the background.
In late June the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice gave salons a month to close down, saying the grace period would allow them to use up stock.
It said it made the order because extravagant sums spent on makeovers caused hardships for poor families, and that some treatments at the salons were un-Islamic.
