Sarah Sanyahumbi meets some self-help groups in Nepal and is witness to an incident which really underlined again for her ‘the position that many women have in society’:

And then something happened which has really stuck in my mind: I asked about safety, as the Terai can be a very dangerous place with criminal gangs controlling some areas. One group admitted they had once been robbed on the way to deposit money in the bank, so I suggested they should ask the men to accompany them, to provide additional security. They laughed at this idea and one woman explained that the men were not interested and did not support the women in what they were doing (even though at least indirectly they would also be getting the benefit of the increased income). At this, an older man stepped forward and shouted at the women – how dare they say such things, and how dare they say such things to foreigners!