The Taliban sent out a text message in early July to beauty salon owners across Afghanistan, stating that they had one month to close shop. Salons are one of the few remaining public spaces where women can safely socialize, and a source of income for women to support not only themselves but often also their families. This latest mandate is yet another blow to women since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021. The question on everyone’s mind now is, what does the ban on beauty salons mean for Afghan women going forward? 

In this episode: 

• Mina Sharif (@minasharif), television and radio producer
• Alison Davidian (@davidianali), UN Women representative in Afghanistan

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Fahrinisa Campana, Amy Walters and our host Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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