In other words, they don’t.

(CNSNews.com) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai said women’s rights in Afghanistan are ensured “within the framework” of Islam, and that the rights of women protected by Islam are “obvious.” However, the U.S. State Department report on Afghanistan confirms that many women there are not accorded equal protection under the law, particularly in cases of rape because of the way Sharia law is sometimes applied.

In a Mar. 10 speech in Kabul, in honor of International Women’s Day, Karzai said that he had spoken with the chairman of the Nationwide Council of Religious Scholars, from whom he confirmed that “Afghan women have access to all the freedoms and rights given to them by the constitution and society of Afghanistan, which are the basic rights within the framework of the principles of our sacred religion and they are welcome to get education, work, [take part in] elections, trade and in all sectors of life.”