Recording photographs of breastfeeding women in England and Wales, without their permission, can lead to two years in jail as per an amendment made by the Ministry of Justice to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, the Guardian reported. “We will introduce a new offence to stop people filming or taking photos of mothers breastfeeding without their consent – because no new mum should be harassed in this way,” the media outlet has quoted Dominic Raab, the lord chancellor and justice secretary saying.
On this historic decision, Stella Creasy, a campaigner and the Labour MP for Walthamstow has said: “That breast pests can now be stopped is testament to the hard work of campaigner Julia Cooper, Jeff Smith, Lady Helene Hayman and Lord Pannick. We all worked across both the Lords and Commons to make the government listen to our call for change.” Creasy was photographed while feeding her four-month-old baby daughter on a train in north London.
As per a BBC report, Manchester-based designer Julia Cooper had started the campaign against taking pictures of breastfeeding mothers after facing a harrowing experience in a local park in April 2021. "I sat down to breastfeed my daughter and I noticed a man on another bench staring at us," she told the BBC. "I stared back to let him know that I had clocked his gaze, but undeterred he got out his digital camera, attached a zoom lens and started photographing us," she added. She had then approached local Labour MP Jeff Smith, and his colleague Stella Creasy and then the campaign was taken to the Commons and an amendment was put forward.
On the move, Ms Cooper told BBC she was "delighted", despite "too-ing and fro-ing from government" on the issue. "It is a victory for breastfeeding mothers and it will provide the reassurance that we can breastfeed in public without strangers freely photographing and filming us as they wish. The law is on their side, the law is going to protect them and I am so pleased,” she told BBC.
Back at home, many have lauded the decision.
Actor Neha Dhupia, took to Instagram her joy and has shared, "As a mother of two and as a new mom who is breast feeeding her little one … this is such a huge win… and is the need of the hour … we need the #FREEDOMTOFEED … @freedomtofeed
#Repost @freedomtofeed with @make_repost ・・・ This is such a huge achievement and this is the direction the world needs to head in … the first step towards giving a new mom and baby the #freedomtofeed is by giving them the space and the ability to be out in the open. We have to put an end to sexualising the act of breast feeding … thank you for this big step and now that someone’s taken the lead it’s time for the rest of us to follow .
@bbcnews with @make_report ・・・Taking a photograph of a mother breastfeeding their child without their consent is to be made a crime in England and Wales. Julia Cooper was breastfeeding her baby in a park when a man on another bench got out his camera, attached a zoom lens and took a picture. She was “shocked and devastated” to find the police could do nothing about it because no crime had been committed at the time. But that's about to change, click the link in our bio to find out how she helped make it happen."
