Afghans jeer female protesters

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN —  Dozens of young women braved crowds of bearded men screaming “Dogs!” 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.

The warring protests Wednesday highlighted the explosive nature of the women’s rights debate in Afghanistan. Both sides are girding for battle over the legislation, which has sparked an international uproar since being quietly signed into law last month.

The law says a husband can demand sex with his wife every four days unless she is ill or would be harmed by intercourse. It also regulates when and for what reasons a wife may leave her home without a male escort.

Though the law would apply only to Shiite Muslims, who make up less than 20% of Afghanistan’s 30 million people, many fear its passage marks a return to Taliban-style oppression of women.

Governments and rights groups around the world have condemned the legislation, and President Obama has labeled it “abhorrent.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai has remanded the law to the Justice Department for review and put enforcement of it on hold.

A host of Afghan intellectuals, politicians and a number of Cabinet ministers have come out against the law. But those who decry it face quick criticism from conservative Muslim clerics and their followers.

“You are a dog! You are not a Shiite woman!” one man shouted to a young woman in a head scarf.

The woman, who held a banner reading “We don’t want Taliban law,” replied quietly, “This is my land and my people.”

The demonstrators chose a risky spot to hold their protest -- in front of the mosque of the legislation’s main backer. They were easily outnumbered by supporters of the law, and they said many women had been stopped on their way to the protest.