But those demonstrators were confronted by a larger group of male and female counter-protesters who shouted insults, threw stones and accused the women of being influenced by anti-Islamic foreign forces.
Critics say the new law, which only affects Afghanistan's Shi'ite Muslim minority, essentially legalizes marital rape by barring women from refusing sex with their husbands unless they are sick. The law also forbids women from leaving their homes without their husbands' permission.
