The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, ordered to change a law that would have silenced victims of domestic violence, forced marriage and child abuse, after a campaign by Afghan activists and western governments, writes the Guardian.
"The new criminal prosecution code, backed by a prominent opponent of women's rights, banned relatives from testifying against each other. In a country where forensic evidence is relatively undeveloped, that would halt prosecution in most cases of violence against women", explains the newspaper.
"As soon as it arrived, it was brought to the cabinet as any law would be for discussion, and like anyone else who is concerned about women's rights they responded," the Guardian quotes Karzai's spokeswoman Adela Raz. "In the past you have seen that the president is someone who has made sure women's rights are protected according to the laws of the country."
"Who says advocacy and lobbying does not work? It does and we have seen results always. Here is one of that," the newspaper also quotes the Twitter post by the campaigner Samira Hamidi.
