New Internationalist

It’s a man’s world - and becoming more so every day. Latest UN estimates show that 117 million females are missing - due to a combination of female infanticide after birth and sex selective abortion. This isn’t just a demographic oddity - it’s a social and global disaster. This issue looks at why so many of the world’s parents are opting to have sons. What are the consequences for girls - and society as a whole? What can be done to get the sex ratio back to normal? To ensure that girls are not only allowed - but welcomed into this world?

October 2013, Issue 466

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The Big Story

Girls not allowed
Prenatal sex selection is an unfolding tragedy. Vanessa Baird assesses the damage done - both personal and global.
The girls are back in town
How South Korea got back to normal.
Missing girls - THE FACTS
Only the best... it has to be a boy
Rajashri Dasgupta explodes a few myths about educated middle-class women in India.
Keeping Prerna
Daily-wage earner Kajri is defying her husband to save her daughter. She confided in Ankita Balloh.
Patriachs flex their muscles
Onnik Krikorian on the anti-abortion response to Georgia's skewed sex ratios.
Daughters are more caring
Is China changing its mind about sex? Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore reports from Beijing.
Blue Dragon to the rescue
Two Vietnamese girls are rescued from Chinese brothels. Phillip Martin accompanied them on their journey home.

Features

Keeping the peace
Brennan O'Connor visits Burma, where religious persecution of Muslims is being challenged by grassroots initiatives.
Night flight
Under cover of darkness, Syrian refugees cross the border into Jordan. David Brunetti's photos capture the scene.

Agenda

Rise of the killer robots
Yasuní in peril
Immigration untruths
Introducing Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
Fair enough?
Muslim activists defy state power
What kind of peace?
Digital discrimination
Congo calling
Reasons to be cheerful

Mixed Media

Music reviews
Denfila by Donso; Places of Worship by Arve Henriksson.
Film reviews
Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta; InRealLife, directed by Beeban Kidron.
Book reviews
The Village Against the World by Dan Hancox; Betrayal by Adriaan Van Dis; Pink Sari Revolution by Amana Fontanella-Khan; and Narcoland by Anabel Hernández.
PLUS: Also out there

Opinion

Argument: Has the Arab Spring failed?
Writer and academic Myriam Francois-Cerrah and journalist Noreen Sadik go head-to-head.
Mark Engler
There's always money for war.
Chris Coltrane
Racists, go home.

Regulars

Letter from Botswana
If 'patriotism' means exlusion of others, Wame Molefhe wants no part of it.
Country Profile: Zimbabwe
Making Waves
Nigel Wilson meets Maha Alasil, an ordinary woman going to extraordinary lengths to help Syrian refugees in Jordan.
And Finally
Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré talks to Graeme Green about being an 'Afro-progressive' and how politics informs her music.