Victor R. Caivano / AP

A protester hurls a stone at police officers during a protest against the acquittal of 13 people accused in the disappearance of a young woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 12, 2012.

Victor R. Caivano / AP

Demonstrators and police officers clash during a protest against the acquittal of 13 people accused in the disappearance of a young woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.

The Associated Press reports — The acquittal on Tuesday of 13 people accused in the disappearance of Marita Veron, a young woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution for "VIP clients," spread shock and outrage across Argentina on Wednesday, prompting street protests and calls by political leaders to impeach the three judges who delivered the verdict.

Many called the ruling a setback for Argentina's efforts to combat sex trafficking, which began largely as a result of Susana Trimarco's one-woman, decade-long quest to find her missing daughter, Maria de los Angeles "Marita" Veron. Her attorneys said she would pursue appeals.

Susana Trimarco via AP

Susana Trimarco, right, poses with her daughter Marita Veron and her granddaughter Micaela, daughter of Marita, in 2002.

Trimarco was a housewife who paid scant attention to the news until her daughter, Marita, disappeared. After getting little help from police, Trimarco launched her own investigation after receiving a tip that Marita may have been abducted and forced into sex slavery. Trimarco visited brothels seeking clues and the search took an additional goal: rescuing sex slaves and helping them start new lives. But years of searching haven't led Trimarco to Marita. Read the full story.

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Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

Morocco's Solidarity, Women and Family minister Bassima Hakkaoui, the only woman in the new Islamist-led government, speaks during a debate about underage marriage in parliament in Rabat on April 16, 2012, next to Justice minister Mustafa Ramid.

Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

Hamida, the sister of Amina Al Filali, holds a poster of her sister during a sit-in protest outside the local court in Larache that had approved the marriage on March 15, 2012.

Morocco's parliament has been debating a controversial law that allows rapists to marry their underage victims after the suicide of a teenage girl last month raised doubts about the effectiveness of reforms to women's rights brought in by King Mohammed VI. 

The North African country's Islamist-led government has been urged by human rights groups to amend article 475 of the penal code, which allows a rapist to marry his victim if she is a minor as a way of avoiding prosecution. 

Sixteen-year-old Amina El-Filali killed herself by swallowing rat poison on March 10 after being severely beaten during a six-month forced marriage to the man who raped her.

--Reuters contributed to this report

• Read more about Amina el-Filali and the demands for a change in the law in Edward Cody's report for the Washington Post