Although Afghan President Hamid Karzi supported a new body of laws which banned violence against women, the Afghan legislature has rejected the laws on the grounds that parts of them “violate Islamic principles.”
The laws would have specifically banned child marriage, or marriage of girls younger than 16. They would have also banned “baad,” the “traditional practice of buying or selling women to settle disputes,” and would spare “rape victims” from criminal charges “for fornication or adultery.”
According to Sky News, there is currently “a rift between conservative and more secular members of the assembly,” which means the debate over these laws will take place at a later date.
Afhganistan will hold an election for a new President in April 2014. No one knows whether these laws will be taken up again by the parliament before then.
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