Uma Lohala spends half the night under the tent and the other half in a makeshift room built on the ruins of her house that was damaged by the earthquake seven months ago.

The 45-year-old resident of Bhelukhel in Bhaktapur, tired of walking five minutes to and another five minutes from the public toilet which usually does not have water during the night, had made the makeshift room using some damaged tents and a toilet using one part of the wall of her damaged mud house to solve her problem.

“I go to the lavatory at least four times at night. I had found it easier to stay half the night in the ruins of my house, but the winter has deprived me of that comfort as well,” said Lohala, who has various health problems.

According to Renu Rajbhandari, president of Women Rehabilitation Centre, this is one of the major problems of women living under the tent. “We assume only young girls suffer from such problems but women of all ages have been suffering because they feel unsafe going out of their tent at night. They usually go in groups or wait for the daylight to break when they feel safer,” she said.