Afghan women dismayed by order to close beauty parlours

KABUL -- Beauty parlours across Afghanistan have been ordered to shut within a month, the latest measure to squeeze women out of public life.

The order Tuesday (July 4) will force the closure of thousands of businesses run by women -- often the only source of income for households -- and outlaw one of the few remaining opportunities for them to socialise away from home.

"I think it would have been good if women did not exist at all in this society," said the manager of a Kabul parlour who asked not to be identified.

"I am saying this now: I wish I did not exist. I wish we were not born in Afghanistan, or were not from Afghanistan."

Since August 2021, girls and women have been barred from high schools and universities; banned from parks, funfairs and gyms; and ordered to cover up in public.

Women have also mostly been barred from working for the United Nations (UN) or non-governmental organisations, and thousands have been sacked from government jobs or are being paid to stay at home.

'Chat and gossip'

Beauty parlours have mushroomed across Kabul and other Afghan cities for more than 20 years.

They were seen as a safe place to gather and socialise away from men and provided vital business opportunities for women.

"Women used to chat, gossip. There was no fighting here, no noise," said a salon worker who asked to be identified only as Neelab.

"When we see some happy and active faces here, we are also refreshed. The salon has a very important role; this place makes us feel comfortable."

Another salon manager said she employed 25 women who were all breadwinners for their families.

"All of them are heartbroken... what should they do?" she said.

A report to the UN's Human Rights Council last week by Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur for Afghanistan, said the plight of women and girls in the country "was among the worst in the world".

"Grave, systematic and institutionalised discrimination against women and girls" in Afghanistan, raises concerns about "gender apartheid", he said.

'For what reason?'

On Tuesday the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) appealed for a revocation of the salon order.

"This new restriction on women's rights will impact negatively on the economy & contradicts stated support for women entrepreneurship," it said in a tweet.

Raha, a 24-year-old student until she was barred from university last year, was visiting a salon Tuesday for a makeover before an engagement party.

"This place was the only place left for women to earn for themselves, and they want to take it, too," she said.

"It's a question for all of us -- why are they doing so? For what reason?"