Beauty Salons in Afghanistan Banned by Taliban

The Taliban* have banned the operation of beauty salons in Afghanistan and recalled previously issued licenses, the country's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said on Tuesday.

"The operation of women's beauty salons in Kabul and the country’s provinces will be prohibited within a certain period, issued licenses and contracts are invalid," the ministry said in a letter to the Kabul administration.

Some Afghan women told Sputnik that they worked in beauty salons to provide for their families because their husbands were unemployed. Another woman who runs a beauty salon called on the Taliban administration to create more jobs for men.

The Islamist group has severely restricted women's rights to travel, study and work since it took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of international troops and the collapse of the US-backed government. In December 2022, Afghan women were banned from working for non-profit organizations.

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A man stands next to a beauty salon with images of women defaced using spray paint at Shahr-e Naw neighbourhood in Kabul on December 9, 2021. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)

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Afghan women walk past a closed beauty salon in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Since the Taliban gained control of Kabul, several images depicting women outside beauty salons have been removed or covered up. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

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**ONE OF SEVEN PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH DALZIEL** A poster with pictures of Afghan women from the first class to graduate from Kabul Beauty School in Deb?s Dessert Oasis salon, sits next to an ad for hair products in the capital city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004. In a country where once Taliban banned beauty salons, here women train to become beauticians. "Hair dressing is the least of what this is all about," says founder and teacher Debbie Rodriguez from Holland, Michigan, "We want to provide the girls with a safe haven.? (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)

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FILE - A woman walks past beauty salons with window decorations which have been defaced in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021. A spokesman at Afghanistan's Vice and Virtue Ministry said Tuesday, July 4, 2023, the Taliban are banning women's beauty salons. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

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**ONE OF SEVEN PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH DALZIEL** Raskar, a 16-year-old Afghan girl, touches her head with her henna treated hands as a fellow classmate makes her up like an Afghan bride, as part of their exam, at the Kabul Beauty School in Deb?s Dessert Oasis salon in the capital city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004. ?Hair dressing is the least of what this is all about, we want to provide the girls with a safe haven? says school founder and teacher Debbie Rodriguez from Holland, Michigan. Rodriguez views this as a practical way for Afghan women to gain independence. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)

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A youth walks past a closed beauty salon with images of women defaced at Shahr-e Naw area in Kabul on July 4, 2023. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have ordered beauty parlours across the country to shut within a month, the vice ministry confirmed on July 4, the latest curb to further squeeze women out of public life. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar / AFP)

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An Afghan beautician Shiba, 20 years old, puts on a make up on Shima, 20 years old, who wants to go to a wedding ceremony in the Soheyla beauty Salon at Kabul 25 September, 2002. AFP PHOTO/Henghameh FAHIMI (Photo by HENGHAMEH FAHIMI / AFP)

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An Afghan bride (R) Frozan, 16 years old, and her groom (C) Vali Mohammad, 25 years old, pose for the camera before leaving Soheyla beauty Salon in Kabul, 25 September, 2002, with the bride's sister, Fereshteh, 14. AFP PHOTO/Henghameh FAHIMI (Photo by HENGHAMEH FAHIMI / AFP)

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In this picture taken on October 3, 2021, a woman stands next to the images of women defaced at the entrance of a beauty shop in Bamiyan. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP)

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A fully-veiled Afghan woman (2nd R) sits beside her daughter as she waits her turn to get her hair styled at Homaria's Beauty Salon in Kabul, 14 December 2001. Homaira is the owner of Kabul's first salon to reopen after the fall of the hardline Taliban regime. AFP PHOTO/WEDA (Photo by WEDA / AFP)

* under UN sanctions for terrorism