KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Managers of women-only cafes in western Herat province say the Taliban has threatened to shut down their cafes soon, accusing them of playing music and violating hijab regulations.
According to local sources, five women-only cafes are currently operating in Herat city, established by female entrepreneurs after the Taliban prohibited women from visiting restaurants and cafes where men are present.
The managers of three such cafes confirmed the news to KabulNow, saying that the Taliban’s Department of Virtue and Vice recently issued verbal threats to shut down their businesses.
According to them, the Taliban authorities claim that these cafes play music, allow women without proper hijabs, and permit smoking. However, the cafe managers deny these allegations, saying they adhere to the Taliban’s mandated hijab and do not play music inside their cafés.
The cafe managers said the Taliban authorities are seeking excuses to shut down the cafes in the city, the only places where women can gather to relieve their psychological pressures, drink coffee or study.
Additionally, they express concern about the financial impact of this decision, saying they will lose between $7,000 and $22,000 of their investment. They also worry that dozens of women, many of whom are the sole breadwinners of their families, will become unemployed.
The Taliban’s closure of women-only cafes in Afghanistan is the latest in a series of restrictions imposed on women since their return to power three years ago.
Since then, the regime has issued over 100 directives and edicts targeting women’s rights, including bans on education, employment, visiting restaurants and cafes, going to gyms and parks, organizing peaceful assemblies, and more.
Last year, the Taliban leaders imposed a ban on women’s beauty salons, leaving thousands of women and girls unemployed at a time when the country is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with over half of its population dependent on international aid.
The Taliban’s ban on women’s beauty salons has reportedly impacted around 12,000 beauty businesses across the country, leaving 60,000 women and girls unemployed and adding further strain to an economy already in crisis.
UN experts, legal scholars, and activists all say that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls amounts to a system of apartheid, designed to deliberately subjugate them based solely on their gender.
They have recently called on the UN and the international community to develop a strong, principled, and coordinated strategy for Afghanistan that places human rights, particularly those of women, at the forefront.
