Islamabad 10 August: Taliban authorities have intensified their clampdown on women’s livelihoods in Kabul, closing dozens of home-based beauty salons over the past week and confiscating equipment, according to Afghan media reports.
The affected salons had been operating discreetly from private homes since the Taliban’s ban on all formal beauty salons in July 2024. Afghan TV reported that agents from the Taliban’s morality police raided homes, seized salon tools, and compelled family members to sign pledges not to allow the women to resume work.
Several beauticians said their mobile phones were inspected without explanation during the raids. Others reported that Taliban officers ordered male relatives to report to district offices to sign written guarantees, with some accusing the agents of inappropriate conduct.
One beautician told the broadcaster, “They took our tools and warned us we’d be arrested if we continued. I’ve hidden my equipment elsewhere, but I still live in fear.”
The report alleged that some Taliban officials had previously solicited bribes to allow salons to operate quietly, only for those same businesses to be targeted later.
While the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has in the past detained beauticians briefly, the latest crackdown is described as more aggressive and far-reaching.
