"A blink or a wink" by Ramyata Limbu (#90) shows this is a prevalent problem here. I myself have been a victim of sexual harassment, and know that it is rampant not only in the, workplace but also in the student-teacher relationship. If it can happen with a university student like me, it could be worse for younger students. What I have learnt from my experience is that no penalty will compensate a woman for the humiliation. Still, why should the criminal assailant get away? We all need to speak out.

Prateebha Tuladhar
Maharajgunj

I worked in a tarai town for two years, and can relate to both situations described in your coverage of sexual harrassment. Before I came to Nepal, I was aware of the discriminatory treatment of women, and I changed many of my daily habits to "fit in". With my colleagues and friends, this may have prevented some of the harassment that previous volunteers warned me about, but it did not protect me from the daily hassles that strangers on the street felt was their right to inflict on me. But my first reaction when I saw the accompanying photo to your "Teasing tourists" article was to notice the tourists' bare legs and arms. I find myself reacting judgmentally when I see such culturally-inappropriate dress and wonder how tourists can be so unaware of the effect of their clothing choice. But, although this does contribute to the stereotypes that feed the attitudes that lead to sexual harassment, it is not the root of the problem, which is the belief of certain men about their right to degrade women, and their subsequent actions to cause intimidation and harm. Sexual harassment will only be successfully addressed by dealing with the underlying roots of gender inequality, not by blaming ourselves for what we might have done to provoke the situation. The issue is now what women wear-it's what men do. After three years in Nepal, I will miss many things, but I look forward to reclaiming my right to freedom from unwanted attention of my body and most of all, overcoming the shame that this attention has caused me to internalise. I'm not saying that short skirts are the flag of a feminist utopia, but every woman deserves the right to be judged only by who she is, not by what she wears.

Christine Mylks
Ex-VSO

Whilst I agree with Ms Lustig's comments about how horribly men in Nepal harass women, especially women of the kuire variety, I believe it is utterly naive to suggest that the Nepal Tourism Board will manage to educate those lewd desperados through an education campaign. The basic problem is that these young (and not so young) men have a large build-up of testosterone with not much in the way of outlet. So what alternative is there to poking, pinching, grabbing, rubbing, leering, jeering and generally leching at women? What is the Tourism Board going to say-"Start respecting women" or "You are more likely to get whatever it is that you are after (friendship, business, information- whatever) by being a gentleman"?

Jyoti Thapa
Melbourne