Hamid Karzai backs clerics' move to limit Afghan women's rights

[myrana]

New Islamic code would allow husbands to beat wives and encourage segregation of the sexes.

Afghanistan's president has endorsed a "code of conduct" issued by an influential council of clerics which activists say represents a giant step backwards for women's rights in the country

Comments

[tilmon]

Men everywhere have historically demonstrated that the first thing they are willing to sell out for their own gain is women's rights, and they will do so while claiming to protect us.

[asinbumble]

This is so disheartening. I have so much respect and admiration for women like Barikzai and Gailani.

[kyra_neko_rei]

Ten years and more of hearing people say that the war in Afghanistan is totally awesome because we're helping women's rights over there, and this happens.

I'm mulling Ben Franklin's "those who exchange liberty for security deserve neither" quote in my head and wondering what ol' Ben would have to say about people who trade other people's liberty for their security.

Unfortunately I don't know how to swear my head off in 18th-century English, so I couldn't begin to guess.

[firerosearien]

"You bloody knave, god's blood..."

Okay, so that's more 16th century English....

[thelilyqueen]

I don't know how to do that either, but I bet it'd be choice. Esp. since IIRC Ben was, considering the times, pretty darn good on women's issues.

[kyra_neko_rei]

I know he didn't mind writing under a female pseudonym, which I bet a lot of men today would consider emasculating unless it was satire of "the bitch perspective" instead of actual things they wanted to say.

[carmy_w]

Yes.

[romp]

I just posted elsewhere about how the Taliban was a concern for people who cared about women for 10 years before 9/11. Then the loss of rights for women was trotted out as a reason to go "over there" but I doubt anyone bought that.