Sir – In my letter on sex in lay-by toilets (June 11), I was making the point that in a world where sexual abuse is epidemic, where vulnerable children are forced into sexual slavery right under our noses, and where a third of women will become a victim of sexual assault, consenting adults engaged in hanky panky in a lay-by toilet, though clearly not to be found in Debrett’s guide to Etiquette, is no great crime.

Perhaps my humorous take on it fell flat on some ears. There was certainly no vilification or incitement to hatred as Mr Surman suggests (Letters, June 18). I think as a society we get far too hung up about sex, and could it be this dysfunctional attitude which exacerbates the problems of sexual abuse?

Sexually repressive communities with a culture of power and little accountability do seem to be breeding grounds for these problems don’t they?

Stephen Fry said one of the wisest things I have ever heard about sex, when he compared it to food: “We have a healthy attitude. We like it, it’s fun, it’s jolly; because it’s a primary impulse it can be dangerous and dark and difficult. It’s a bit like food in that respect, only even more exciting. The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese.”

Daniel Emlyn-Jones
Oxford