he is the head of the taliban's intelligence services in kabul and the women did not have permission to protest. why does a small group of women asking for their right to be educated threaten you so much? >> i respect women's rights. i respect human rights, he says. if i didn't respect women, you wouldn't be standing here. >> reporter: would you have given them permission if they asked for it? >> yes, of course, he says. we would have. but permissions are illusive and previous protests have met a similar fate. on the streets, the consequences of one recent demonstration can still be seen. at almost every beauty salon, images of women's faces have been defaced as if to erase them from public life completely. the women inside this salon are too scared to appear on camera.