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Photo: UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

Double Poverty Under the Taliban's Umbrella: A Factor in the Sale of Beauty Symbol by Women

January 18, 2025

Ariahn Raya

Food Insecurity Has Forced Women in Afghanistan to Sell Their Hair

Poverty and desperation in the cold winter season on one hand, and the Taliban's restrictions on women's work and employment on the other, have forced some women and girls in Afghanistan to choose between hunger and beauty.

They say that having long hair in Afghanistan makes women and girls appear attractive, confident, and more beautiful. However, the widespread poverty, food insecurity, and difficult economic conditions have forced them to sell this charm and beauty.

Ghonchah Gol, a 38-year-old woman and one of the victims of this situation who sold her hair in exchange for dry bread to feed her children, tells Zan TV: "I sold everything valuable in the house that people would buy, there was nothing left for us. Look at my poor children, they are malnourished, I didn’t even have bread to give them for lunch. My poor children kept crying, saying Mother, we are hungry. At 2 p.m., a little child was shouting in the street, calling out I buy dry bread, old iron, wool, and hair. I went outside and asked him, Dear, do you also buy human hair?"

As the sorrowful dust settles on Ghonchah Gol’s face and tears flow from her eyes, she continues her story, adding: "The poor child said, Yes, aunt, we also buy hair. I told him, Wait for ten minutes, my child. I went and grabbed the scissors, cried so much. In the end, I said, God forgive me, but I will feed my children. I cut my hair and gave it to the child. I asked, How much will it be? He said, Aunt, it will be 200 Afghanis. I said, Dear, go to the bakery and buy bread with this money for me."

Mursal is one of the child laborers in Herat province who carries the responsibility of providing for his widowed mother and four younger sisters on his young shoulders.

She says that due to economic problems and the lack of a guardian, not only did her mother sell her own hair, but also Mursal's brown hair. "We had nothing at home, my father is sick, he had surgery a long time ago and he can't work now. My mother goes to the neighbors' houses to work. For a week, the neighbors didn't have any work, so my mother was unemployed. She asked if I would mind if she sold my hair. I felt sorry for both my mother and my hair. First, my mother cut her own hair, then she cut mine."

These women say that hair buyers determine the price for them based on the type and thickness of the hair.

Shahnaz is another woman who has resorted to selling her hair due to poverty and financial hardship. She says, "Everyone is doing this because of the poor economy. Who likes to be without hair? But now, those who buy hair, if the hair is long and not dyed, they offer a good price, but they buy shorter hair at a very low price."

Nevertheless, economic analysts in Afghanistan consider the suspension of aid from humanitarian organizations and the ban on women’s work and employment as one of the reasons for women selling their hair.

Sediqa Karimi, an economic expert, says: "The Taliban first imprisoned women. Imprisonment is not only about being in a cell, but the fact that they have been confined to their homes is a prison in itself. However, prison is better; at least prisoners are given bread. But in these women's homes, there is no bread. The Taliban's actions towards women have led humanitarian organizations to halt their aid to Afghanistan. Now, there seems to be no option left for these women except selling their hair, and tomorrow, perhaps, even prostitution may be the only option left for these women without a guardian."

This comes at a time when the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has declared the buying and selling of hair and body parts as un-Islamic and forbidden.

Additionally, this ministry wrote on its X page on Sunday (January 12) of this year that they have prevented the trafficking of over one hundred kilograms of human hair in Faryab province and have arrested individuals in connection with this matter.

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