Rome, 10 Sept. (AKI) - The scourge of violence suffered by Afghan women is a grave problem that requires decisive action, according to one of the country's magistrates. Marzia Basel expressed her views at an international conference on violence against women held in Rome this week.

"Violence suffered by women in Afghanistan is a dramatic problem that should be tackled in a serious way," Basel told the conference at the Italian foreign ministry on Thursday.

The G8 International Conference on Violence Against Women was hosted by Italy, which is the current president of the G8 group of the world's seven most industrialised nations plus Russia.

Basel said she was "surprised" by a law signed last Sunday by Afghan president Hamid Karzai, aimed at preventing violence against women in the country.

But she described it as "an important step forward by the government to defend Afghan women."

"At last, penal sanctions have been enacted against those who commit crimes against women," said Basel.

Drafting of the law began two years ago.

It is based on articles of the Afghan constitution which enshrine the duty of the state to respect and protect the "inviolable" liberty and dignity of all of its citizens", and "ensure physical and psychological well-being of a family, especially of child and mother, upbringing of children and elimination of traditions contrary to the provisions of Islam."

Since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, there have been important changes to Afghanistan's civil code that improve women's rights, but there are still legal obstacles preventing equality with men, Basel said.

"Afghan women's condition remains dire due to forced marriages, and physical and sexual abuse especially from spouses in rural areas," she said.

She called on the international community to back human rights in Afghanistan and urged a media campaign against child brides, a practice which has been outlawed in the country.

"It is not the laws protecting women that we are lacking but their implementation," Basel stressed.

Women's rights activists last month attacked Karzai for signing a law that allows minority Shia Muslim husbands to refuse food and money to their wives if they deny them sex.

The activists alleged that Karzai used a constitutional loophole to enact the law. An earlier version sparked international outrage and was described as oppressive and a return to Taliban-era repression of women.

Karzai was seen to have enacted the law to appease conservative Shia clergy ahead of the 20 August presidential election, which he appears set to win.

Nearly 20 percent of Afghans are Shia Muslim.