INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
message on Tuesday, adding that they have one month, starting from July 2, to comply with the order
the Taliban had barred girls from schools, gyms, parks and swimming pools
Recently, they had even banned women from working for the United Nations
Earlier, the Taliban had ordered a strict dress code for women and restricted their movement, directing them not to travel without a male
relative (mahram).The restrictions have continued despite international condemnation and protests by women as well as activists speaking up
on their behalf.Shutting beauty salons was part of a wide range of measures imposed by the Taliban when they were last in power between 1996
But they reopened in the years after the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and hundreds of beauty parlours were established across Kabul
and other Afghan cities in the last two decades.Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described Afghanistan as the most restrictive country in the
world in terms of the rights of women and girls
According to HRW, women were being dismissed from all leadership posts and needed to be accompanied by a male guardian while travelling in
most provinces of Afghanistan
human rights from Afghan women
alternatives, if any, would be available to women once the salons shut.
