bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Brendan O'Malley

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.

In 2000, promoting gender equality and empowering women was adopted as one of the Millennium Development Goals with a view to achieving equality of access to primary and secondary education by 2005, a goal which has been put back to 2015.

Since late 2005,  Chile, Jamaica, Liberia and South Korea   have elected or selected women as their heads of government, bringing the number of women heads of state or government to 14. Nevertheless, in  two-thirds of developing nations women do not have an equal say in household decisions such as spending on food and health care, according to data from 30 countries provided by Demographic and Health Surveys.

Factors affecting women's level of influence include control of income and assets, the difference in age between husband and wife and their levels of education, all of which affect their bargaining power. Domestic violence, whether physical or sexual, is normally perpetrated by adult men and  threatens not only female  health and emotional wellbeing but often forces women to endure subordinate positions and economic insecurity within households.

The consequences can be as dire for children as for the women themselves: increased infant mortality rates, stunted growth and illiteracy.  A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute shows if men and women had equal influence in the decision-making, the incidence of underweight children less than three years old in South Asia would fall by up to 13 percentage points, resulting in 13.4 million fewer undernourished children in the region; in sub-Saharan Africa an additional 1.7 million children would be adequately nourished.

A Unicef survey of selected developing countries found that on average, children with uneducated mothers are at least twice as likely to be out of school as children whose mothers attended primary school. By contrast, women with some formal education are more likely to delay marriage and childbirth, ensure their children are immunised, be better informed about their own and their children's nutritional requirements and space the births of their children.

In many poor countries, each additional year of formal education completed by a mother leads to her children being kept in school up to 18 months  longer than would otherwise be the case. Unicef advocates a rights-based approach to tackle discrimination.

'Women themselves are the most important catalysts for change,' the report says. 'By challenging and defying discriminatory attitudes in their communities, women's groups can advance the rights of girls and women for generations to come.'

Gender bias in property and inheritance laws also leave women and children at greater risk of poverty. The high cost of good-quality childcare in many countries forces low-income families to rely on extended family members or older children, usually girls and often at the cost of withdrawing them from school. In many regions, girls remain significantly more likely than boys to miss out on secondary education. Unicef estimates that, on average, only 43 per cent of secondary age girls attend school in developing countries and the problem is most acute in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

Despite steady advances, women account for just short of 17 per cent of parliamentarians worldwide, 14 per cent of ministers and 6 per cent of heads of government. In local politics the participation of women can have an immediate impact on the distribution of community resources for women and children and promotion of child care.

Women's participation in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction is vital to ensure the safety and protection of children and other vulnerable populations. 'Yet women rarely make it to the peace table,' the report says.

The report sets out a road map for maximising gender equality through education, financing, legislation, legislative quotas, women empowering women, engaging men and boys and improved research and data.

'Ensuring that girls and boys have equal educational opportunities is one of the most powerful steps towards combating gender discrimination,' the report says. This requires abolishing school fees, encouraging parents and communities to invest in girls' education and creating safe girl-friendly schools that are  without bias.

Providing separate and adequate toilets for girls and boys, for instance, can be crucial to ensuring girls do not drop out of school after puberty. School curricula must also impress upon teachers and students the importance of gender equality. 'One way to help eliminate bias is to increase the number of female teachers in the classroom,' the report adds.

So why was Bhauri Malavat lucky despite being married as a child? Because her father was a teacher and made sure she still went to school, even repeating one year she failed. Inspired by hearing about a famous policewoman, Kiran Bedi, in class, she has since joined the force in Bikaner, a town in her home state.

But the key to empowering the majority of women and girls in developing countries and safeguarding their rights is legislative reform. Comprehensive measures are required to prevent domestic violence and gender-based violence in conflicts.

National legal reforms in property law and inheritance rights can increase women's access to land and property. But governments also need to address customary laws that discriminate against women and ensure equal access to justice and legal protection for women and children. Unicef advocates the use of quotas as a proven method of breaking through the glass ceiling in politics.

It is telling that of the 20 countries in the world with the most women in parliament 17 have quotas. The report concludes that real progress based on respect, universal human rights and equal opportunities, can be made towards transforming discriminatory behaviour, customs, laws, institutions and practices.

'For women, men and for children, the time to refocus our efforts is now,' Unicef says. 'Gender equality will not only empower women to overcome poverty but will also assist their children, families, communities and countries as well. It is not only morally right, it is pivotal to human progress.'

The State of the World's Children, 2007, UNICEF, http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_36587.html



The hand that rocks the cradle needs at least basic schooling