The publication of a book based on Meena Poudel's PhD (awarded by Newcastle University in 2009) was celebrated by the research team, friends and colleagues following the Nepal research roundtable at Newcastle University in July 2011.

Meena studied in Sociology, working closely with her main supervisor, Professor Diane Richardson, and a strong peer group of fellow PhD students researching issues of gendered violence. It was therefore particularly pleasing that a member of that peer group, Alison Jobe, along with a current Socilogy PhD student Justine Uvuza and, Fiona McConnell who recently completed a post doc in Geography at Newcastle University, were able to join the celebrations.

In raising a toast to Meena's achievement Diane Richardson spoke movingly of Dr Poudel's deep political commitment to anti-trafficking both in Nepal and more widely. In turn, Meena expressed her thanks for the support and solidarity she had found at Newcastle from friends, colleagues and her supervisors and offered her gratitude to Shakti Samuha and her research participants. She said that the current project is a direct result of all these collaborations. The event ended with everyone raising a toast to the women of Shakti Samuha who are an inspiration in their struggle to improve the circumstances and lives of returnee trafficked women as they fight against trafficking in Nepal.