The Taliban use tasers, fire hoses and gunfire to break up Afghan women protesting beauty salon ban

From the Independent and the Telegraph

Dozens of Afghan women protested a beauty salon ban on Wednesday after the Taliban ordered their closure nationwide. Security forces used fire hoses, tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protest.

The Taliban said earlier this month they were giving all salons in Afghanistan one month to wind down their businesses and close shop, drawing concern from international officials worried about the impact on female entrepreneurs. The Taliban say they are outlawing salons allegedly because they offer services forbidden by Islam and cause economic hardship for grooms’ families during wedding festivities. Too much make-up prevented women from proper ablutions for prayer, the ministry said, while eyelash extensions and hair weaving were also forbidden.

In a rare sign of public opposition to Taliban orders, dozens of beauticians and makeup artists gathered in the capital of Kabul to protest the ban. The Taliban sprayed the women with water and shot their rifles into the air to disperse the gathering.

Taliban suppress female beauticians' protest by gunfire

Many female beauticians in Kabul staged a protest reacting to the ban on beauty salons in Afg. The protest of the women met with violence and suppression by the Taliban, and ceased with gunfire.

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— Yahya Ahmadi یحیی احمدی (@yahyakhanahmadi) July 19, 2023

“We are here for justice,” said one protester who identified herself as Farzana. “We want work, food and freedom.” Farzana later said the women were going to the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, urging protesters to stay together.

One protester told The Associated Press the demonstration started at around 10 a.m. in the Shar-e-Naw area of the capital. She did not want to give her name for fear of reprisals. “The purpose of our demonstration was that they (the Taliban) should reconsider and reverse the decision to close beauty salons because this is about our lives,” she said. “All of us, 50 to 60 women, participated. Our slogan was work, bread and freedom.”

“Today we arranged this protest to talk and negotiate,” said a salon worker, whose name is withheld for safety reasons. “But today, no one came to talk to us, to listen to us. They didn’t pay any attention to us and after a while, they dispersed us by aerial firing and water cannon.”