US Special Representative for Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, Rina Amiri, has condemned the Taliban’s ban on women beauty salons in Afghanistan.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Amiri said that the Taliban is turning Afghanistan into a “pariah state”.
Earlier this week, the Taliban issued an edict ordering beauty salons across Afghanistan to close down by July 24, adding to a list of more than 50 restrictions on women already in effect since the group’s return to power.
The ban has sparked widespread outrage and condemnations inside and outside Afghanistan.
A beauty salon owner, who lost her husband in a car bomb attacked in 2017, told the AP said that as her family’s sole breadwinner, the ban on her work will put her in financial difficulties.
“Day by day they [the Taliban] are imposing limitations on women,” she said. “Why are they only targeting women? Aren’t we human? Don’t we have the right to work or live?” She asked.
The UN has said that the ban will have a negative impact on women entrepreneurship.
The Taliban has not commented.
