Presidential Election

Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked a law on Saturday that aims to protect women's freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of marriage.The failure highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam kept Afghan women virtual prisoners in their homes.Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative lawmaker for Herat province, said the legislation was withdrawn shortly after being introduced in parliament because of fierce opposition from religious parties who said parts of the law are un-Islamic."Whatever is against Islamic law, we don't even need to speak about it," Shaheedzada said.The Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women has actually been in effect since 2009 by presidential decree. It is being brought before parliament now because lawmaker Fawzia Kofi, a women's rights activist, wants to cement it wi...

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