Quote of the Day

"We are here to campaign for our rights."—An Afghan woman, speaking into a loudspeaker at an event to protest the recently-passed law which legalizes rape against women, sets the marriageable age of girls at 16, and requires women obtain their husbands' permission before seeking work, education, or healthcare.

The women faced mobs of men physically intimidating them, attacking their buses, and shouting, "Get out of here, you whores!" but they were not deterred, gathering at the School of the Last Prophet, which is run by Afghanistan's most powerful Shitte cleric, Ayatollah Asif Mohsini, who was instrumental in the drafting and passage of the legislation. The women "held their banners aloft and began to chant" outside the madrasa, prompting hundreds of its students to "[pour] into the streets to confront the demonstrators."

"Death to the enemies of Islam!" the counterdemonstrators cried, encircling the women. "We want Islamic law!"

The women stared ahead and kept walking.

Blub.

[H/T to Shaker Puellasolis.]