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An unusual protest by a group of women took place in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Wednesday against the Taliban government’s decision to close all hair and beauty salons for women. The demonstration was peaceful, but the police responded with violence to disperse the women present.
The closure was announced in early July, and shopkeepers were given a month to fulfill their commitment: The Kabul Chamber of Commerce estimates that around 12,000 shops across the country will have to close, including more than 50,000 Afghan women who will lose their jobs.
Wednesday’s protest was very rare, both because there have been very few dissenting demonstrations since the Taliban returned to Afghanistan, and because the protesters in this case were women whose freedom of expression has been de facto restricted for the past two years was abolished.
The demonstration took place in a Kabul neighborhood known for its high concentration of women’s hair salons and beauty salons: around fifty women took part, according to reports from AFP photographers who were there, accompanied by songs and slogans and placards reading ” Food , Labor and Justice”. Although the demonstration was peaceful, the police responded by using water cannon to disperse the women. Police shots can also be heard in some videos.
Hairdressers and beauty salons had already been closed by the Taliban when the group first ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and reopened after the US-led invasion of the country. After regaining power in August 2021, shops remained open, but in many cases windows had been blacked out and photographs of women displayed outside had been painted over to hide their faces.
This decision was just the latest of many restrictions the Taliban had imposed on women over the past two years. Today, Afghan women after the age of 12 cannot work or study, visit many public places, drive a car, travel long distances without a man accompanying them, and are forced to wear the burqa, which covers the whole body, including the facial, completely covered.