Law Students

Legalized Rape? Opponents Speak Out About New Afghan Law

By stacisaurus

Over much protest, last week Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed into law a bill codifying existing Islamic law which creates significant restrictions upon the times that women can leave their homes in Afghanistan. In addition, the law also requires that women meet the sexual needs of their husbands, stating in relevant part that "unless the wife is ill, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband.? It is believed that this new law will lead not only to decreased education and employment opportunities for women (because, under the tenets of the law, a woman may only leave her home for "a legitimate purpose"), but also to what can essentially be recognized as legalized marital rape. President Obama recently commented on the new law at the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, France, noting

?I think this law is abhorrent. Certainly the views of the administration have been, and will be, communicated to the Karzai government. And we think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture, but we also think that there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold, and respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity is an important principle.?

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Full post as published by Ms. JD on April 09, 2009 (boomark / email).