Kabul [Afghanistan], July 14 : Following the Taliban's new decree which banned women's beauty salons in Kabul and other provinces across the country, Taliban Deputy Minister of Public Work (MoPW) Din Mohammad Haqbin claimed that 95 percent of the population of Afghanistan does not want women to work, reported TOLO News.
“Out of 100 percent, 95 percent of Afghans do not want their women to go to work. Only five percent of the people are making statements on (women work's), and they are trained by the foreigners, but these claims are inaccurate,” he said.
Suraya Paikan, Women’s Rights Activist said that women’s access to work benefits the society, according to TOLO News.
“It is needed for women to have access to work. On one hand they can serve the people and society and on the other hand, women have the right to be property owners based on the decree of the Quran. The women could be the owners of property, when they have income,” she said.
Haqbin further said that other countries should not interfere in the issue of women’s access to work. He added that the Taliban in a decree is creating opportunities for widows to work. “The Islamic Emirate leader, in a new decree, ordered us to provide work for widows and we have a program to provide work for 1,000 of these women,” he said, according to TOLO News.
“Why are they interfering in this issue? Every country has its own tradition, religion and law. It is even stated in the UN law that every religion should be respected. We don’t want westerners to impose their laws on us,” he further added.
However, Haqbin emphasized that with the implementation of an agreement between Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, 55,000 workers will be provided with jobs, TOLO News reported.
According to a decree issued by the Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, women's beauty parlours in Afghanistan will no longer be allowed to operate after July 23, reported Khaama Press.Further, as per the report, there are over 12,000 womens-beauty-salons across the country, with an average of 5 women employed by each.
There are 3,100 women-only beauty salons in Kabul.
Days after the Taliban issued a decree banning women's beauty salons across the country, several women makeup artists protested against the move, urging that the order be rescinded, Tolo News reported.
The protesters gathered at the Union of Women's Beauty Salons saying that the closure of beauty salons will lead to severe economic challenges for them.
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