The hand that rocks the cradle needs at least basic schooling

BHAURI MALAVAT was married off at 31/2, but she was one of the lucky ones. In her village in Rajasthan, a desert state in northwest India, there is a tradition that if an old person dies, all the girls are given away in marriage, and she was one of five handed this fate.

The custom is for the married girls to go and live with their in-laws and prepare to take on the role of doing the cleaning and cooking for the household. It is virtual serfdom imposed according to gender and very often spells the end of a girl's chances of going to school.

Bhauri Malavat, now 24, said: 'In my district most girls stay at home. They are expected to help their parents with household chores, caring for siblings and working in the fields. Traditionally people say it is not worth investing in daughters who will go on to marry and live with the in-laws.'

Discrimination against women and girls remains pervasive globally and is a critical hurdle to quality education and a healthy upbringing to every child, according to a new report by the United Nations' Children's Fund (Unicef). It takes many forms, including the preference for sons over daughters, cultural traditions, limited opportunities in education and physical and sexual violence.

'Women's influence in the key decisions that shape their lives and those of their children must be enhanced in the household, the workplace and the political sphere,' the report says. 'A change for the better in any one of these realms influences women's equality in the others and has a profound and positive impact on children's well being and development.'

Research shows that giving women an equal say over household decisions will lead to improved nutrition, health care and education of children. Unicef says the status of women has improved since the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979.