Positive About Breastfeeding - Out and About

Thanks for hopping over from Visit from the Stork and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 2 - Positive Public Feeding; we have over £700 worth of breastfeeding and baby goodies up for grabs, including prizes from Snoob; with a breastfeeding scarf, a goodie bag from Forever Patricia; and a breastfeeding necklace from Booby and the Bead. 
Full details of the Grand Prize can be found here; and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

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I have never had a negative experience breastfeeding in public. Yet, I have a number of friends who have experienced being told to leave premises, asked to feed in the toilets, and subjected to nasty comments and looks just because they are exercising their right, by law, to feed their babies when out and about. It's ridiculous, in this day and age, that this is still happening. Breastfeeding mothers are protected by the law! A friend recently told me that she was nervous about feeding in public - very early on she had had to stop breastfeeding her first baby, firstly expressing and then moving onto formula, so she had no experience of breastfeeding outside of her house. Fortunately for her, her first public feed was uneventful. I'm so glad, because that gave her the confidence to do it again and again. Since then, she has experienced judgemental stares, and people getting up to move their children away from her. And her baby is only 5 weeks old! Seriously! There is something incredibly wrong with a society that thinks it's acceptable to plaster sexually charged images of women showing their breasts - low cut tops, naked, etc. - everywhere for advertising the most unrelated products, and yet vilifies women who are feeding their children as nature intended.

Illegal is Illegal

There's a petition going round that calls for Sports Direct to issue an apology for the treatment of breastfeeding mother, Wioletta Komar, in one of their stores. I am reluctant to sign it. For a start, a forced apology is meaningless. But, more importantly, this situation calls for much more than an apology, however much Ms. Komar would like to receive one.

Breastfeeding mothers are protected by the Equality Act of 2010. It is illegal to harass, victimise or discriminate against a woman because she is breastfeeding. You cannot ask a woman to leave a public place or feed elsewhere or cover up; you cannot refuse to serve her because she is breastfeeding. It is against the law. 

The chap in Sports Direct who told Ms. Komar that she couldn't feed in the store committed a crime. An apology isn't good enough. When a crime is committed, then there should be consequences under the law.