Congratulations to the author of Sexual harassment : indifference is tacit acceptance, published in l?express yesterday. As an old-timer living in Mauritius, I can reassure her that while such incidents have too often been tacitly ignored in the past, the new generation of Mauritian woman is more conscious of her dignity and her civil rights. If there had been one or two women of this sort on that bus, the outcome of the story might have been very different.

The problem with Mauritian society today is that the Authorities (Capital A) are mainly masculine in composition, and with respect to the sexual harassment of women can be both passive and inert. In the incident in question, the employees working on that bus should be answerable for their conduct, as should the policemen on duty in the station on that day. It would be interesting to discover whether one of our active women?s rights groups is prepared to take up this case, and harass a sufficient number of people to make a point.

Your correspondent displays the right approach for a happy existence in Mauritius ? she should continue being friendly and agreeable to everyone, while consistently refusing to take any crap from everyone. In an incident involving Authority of any sort, one must insist absolutely on one?s full rights, and find a means of obliging people to do something ? if there is anything that Authority fears (here and elsewhere), it is the obligation to get up off its behind and ACT.

Paula ATCHIA