The Taliban has initiated a widespread crackdown on beauty salons across Kabul, according to reports from ToloNews. Security forces have been conducting searches of buildings suspected to house women’s salons, often looting the premises upon discovery.
Before this crackdown, around 60,000 Afghan women earned their living through beauty salons, many of whom were the primary breadwinners for their families. The closures threaten not only their livelihoods but also the fragile social spaces where women gathered.
This latest move follows a series of harsh restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women since their return to power. In late 2024, the group banned Afghan women from studying medicine and nursing — fields that had remained among the few avenues for higher education available to women after a broader university ban enacted in December 2022.
Since the Taliban takeover, women in Afghanistan have faced escalating limitations on their rights, including bans on education, employment, sports, travel, and public recreation. Some of the most restrictive prohibitions include:
- Women working in UN offices
- Men sewing clothes for women
- Women visiting male doctors or hospitals alone
- Women visiting parks or restaurants with gardens
- Broadcasting advertisements featuring women’s voices
- Women bargaining with vendors
- Studying midwifery and nursing
- Women talking to each other in public spaces
These policies have stripped Afghan women of fundamental freedoms and increased their social isolation.
In response to the mounting human rights violations, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands have announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Taliban at the International Court of Justice, accusing the movement of systematic discrimination against women.
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