The mother was in Scotland, and that probably made a huge difference.
The law is Scotland is wonderful. It's illegal to hassle a
breastfeeding mother, or ask her to stop. I found it made a huge
difference to me when I was up on holiday with my toddler. I was in the
middle of the "getting uncomfortable again" stage as mine was 18 months
old at the time. That inner fear I had in England, just melted away
after a few hours in Scotland. I knew that I was pretty safe from being
harassed, and that if someone did say something to me, I could call for
help and the person doing the harassing would be dealt with by others.
I wish I could say I was looking forward to the proposed legislation in
England and Wales, however. Unlike the Scottish law, which simply says
it's illegal to harass if a mother is breastfeeding a child up until two
years of age, the proposed E&W one states a mother may feed a baby to 12
months, IF the mother is feeding discreetly. So in other words, it then
puts mothers in a worse position. As it stand in England and Wales,
laws have to be made to outlaw something: so mothers can breastfeed
anywhere and anyhow, without 'breaking' a rule. Enshrining 'discreetly'
without defining it, means anyone can say "she wasn't being discreet".
And 12 months will make toddler feeding even more problematic. Again,
it's setting up a 'standard' which will actually make things worse for
hungry infants, not better.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jun/13/gender.children
It's interesting, actually. I'd been told about both the 12 months, and
the discreet, in conversations. On searching, the 12 months has clearly
come up in the news articles. Can't find mention of the discreet. Both
were seriously missing from the original private member's bill, which
just asked for two years to match the Scottish law.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6745445.stm
Ah well, fascinating what an hour's research on the web can do. This is
the bill, but I can't find the breastfeeding bit! It's the Single
Equality Bill, and it's a lumping together of odds and sods of
'inequality' bits. A sort of smudge out the bumps and make it all
smooth in lots of areas, bill.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/085/06085.i-iv.html
It's the green paper, and that means it's an early draught. The full
bill, with explanations of all bits, isn't out yet. So I suppose... we
don't actually know what the proposed legislation is. (If someone can
find the breastfeeding bit in that link, I'd like to see it)
Interesting on the two year old thing. I was just recently in the
Highlands of Scotland with my now three year old. I still felt safer.
A child of two, is not that different from a child of three. And
knowing that 'till two was protected overtly, I was confident that no
one would dare make a fuss.
Laws are so important on this. Mothers don't nurse out of the domestic
sphere as they feel unsafe. Laws can make them feel safer. As can
wonderfully erudite and compelling logic and support from religious
figures. If anyone hasn't seen this, they are in for a treat! Worth
reading the entire document!
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/20052010/artson_breastfeeding.pdf
Morgan Gallagher
Janice Reynolds wrote:
> Here's another example of a kid "getting it" I don't have permission to
> reprint here, but if you go to the Lactivism forum at mothering.com, a mom
> has shared a wonderful story from a coffee shop in the UK. Well worth the
> click to get there.
>
> http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=903272
>
>
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