The Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, has called for the inclusion of women in shaping the future of Afghanistan, following the recent ban imposed by the Taliban on women’s beauty salons.
Bahous expressed her concern in a tweet on Friday, stating that the closure of beauty salons is “yet another blow to women’s rights and a further attempt at removing them from public life.” She added that “the future of Afghanistan must include women.”
Last week, the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered salons to be closed down by July 24, adding to the string of over 50 repressive edicts against women and girls in Afghanistan.
The decision has raised widespread criticism and condemnations inside and outside Afghanistan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) took to Twitter to call on the Taliban to halt the ban.
The ban on beauty salons the latest in a series of restrictions that the Taliban has imposed on women and girls since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Other restrictions include bans on women working in government, attending school, and traveling without a male chaperone.
The Taliban has defended the restrictions as necessary to uphold Islamic law. However, critics have accused the Taliban of using religion as a pretext to oppress women and girls.
