Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Afghan Women Protest Marriage


Afghan female police officers link their arms to create a barrier for Shiite counter protesters during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan on 4/15/09. The group of some 1,000 Afghans swarmed a demonstration by 300 women today protesting against a new conservative marriage law. Some counter protesters pelted the women with small stones as police struggled to keep the two groups apart (AP/Musadeq Sadeq).
KABUL – Dozens of young women braved crowds of bearded men screaming "dogs!" on Wednesday to protest an Afghan law that lets husbands demand sex from their wives. Some of the men picked up small stones and pelted the women. "Slaves of the Christians!" chanted the 800 or so counter-demonstrators, a mix of men and women. A line of female police officers locked hands to keep the groups apart. More>>




Afghan women staged rival demonstrations for and against a new family law, which opponents said would revive the cruel treatment of women of the Taliban era, legalizing rape in the context of marriage, but supporters said it would defend Islamic Justice (Reuters/Omar Sobhani).

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