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Transcript/ScriptTaliban Beauty Salons - Paimani
HEADLINE: Activists: Taliban’s Ban on Beauty Salons a Blow to Afghan Women
TEASER: New mandate would push the country's women further into poverty and isolation, women's rights activists say
PUBLISHED AT: 7/12/2023 at 7:47 p.m.
BYLINE: Farkhunda Paimani
DATELINE: Washington
CONTRIBUTOR: Waheed Faizi, Roshan Noorzai
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original | VOA Afghan Service + FILE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICS:
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO
TRT: 2:36
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES: There is a companion WEB script for this story))
((INTRO))
[[The Taliban have ordered women’s beauty salons to close in a month. Beauty salon owners and women’s rights activists call the decision "devastating" for women in Afghanistan. Farkhunda Paimani has the story.]]
((NARRATOR))
Women’s rights activists and watchdogs say that the Taliban’s new ban on their businesses will push them further into poverty and isolation.
The recent decree mandates that beauty salons shut down in a month, adding to the string of restrictions faced by Afghan women. The Taliban also prohibit women from accessing secondary education, employment and public spaces.
Kabul salon owner Banu Amiri, who did not want to use her real name, fears her family's livelihood will suffer if the ban is implemented.
((Banu Amiri, Beauty Salon Owner)) ((Female in Dari)) (Video1: 00:00 – 00:17))
“If I lose my source of income from the beauty salon, I will not be able to pay for my children’s education, and my children will remain uneducated. When I cannot work, I will not be able to pay the rent of the house.”
((NARRATOR))
There are more than 12,000 women's beauty salons in Afghanistan, and more than 3,000 of them are in Kabul, according to the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
The ban calls into question the Taliban's promise to allow women to participate in the private sector.
[[Radio: Mozhgan Alokozai is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council]]
((Mozhgan Alokozai, US-Afghan Women's Council)) (Female, Dari))) ((Courtesy Skype))
“The only way for women to earn money was working in the private sector. With the closing of beauty salons, many women who were the breadwinners of their families lose their job and income. And their lives will become harder and [their future] darker.”
((NARRATOR))
Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, worries the ban will result in a significant loss for women in Afghanistan.
((Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch)) (Female, English))) ((Courtesy: Skype))
“This is not about whether you can go and get your hair and nails done. Beauty salons are women-only space that can offer community and support to women in a situation where they have already lost many other sources of support, including the entire system to deal with domestic violence. So, this is actually a devastating loss for women in general.”
((NARRATOR))
Banu Amiri and other women like her want the Taliban to reconsider their decision.
((Banu Amiri, Beauty Salon Owner)) ((Female, Dari))
“Our demand is that they regulate beauty salons but not close them completely. They should not take away our livelihood from us.”
((NARRATOR))
The U.N. has called on the Taliban to withdraw the ban, which it says "will impact negatively on the economy and contradicts stated support for women entrepreneurship."
((Farkhunda Paimani – VOANEWS – Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Washington D. C.
Embargo DateJuly 12, 2023 18:34 EDT
Byline
Farkhunda Paimani – VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
