Taking Photos Of Breastfeeding Mothers Without Consent To Now Invite Jail Term in England, Wales

The law will be part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that has been tabled in UK Parliament.

An illustration of a woman breastfeeding a child | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: Taking photos of a breastfeeding woman without her consent will now land you in jail if you are in England and Wales.

The law will be part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that has been tabled in UK Parliament, BBC reported.

Quoting Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, the report said the move would stop women from being pestered — “whether it's for self-gratification or for harassment purposes".

Activists campaigning to make it illegal to take pictures of breastfeeding mothers called the decision "a victory for breastfeeding mothers".

Labour and Coop MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy posted a message on Instagram, hailing the move. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Stella Creasy (@stellacreasy)

How The Campaign Started

According to the BBC report, it was Manchester-based designer Julia Cooper who began the campaign, after something happened with her last April that left her "completely shocked and devastated".

Speaking to BBC, she recalled: "I sat down to breastfeed my daughter and I noticed a man on another bench staring at us. 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."

Cooper went to the Greater Manchester Police but was told that no crime had been committed.

"It was disgusting. And I just felt so helpless, so I thought I need to do something about this."

Cooper then contacted local Labour MP Jeff Smith, and his colleague Stella Creasy, who took the campaign to the Commons. 

Creasy also had her own reason to support the campaign. She told The Guardian last year how someone was laughing and taking pictures of her on a train as she breastfed her child.

Calling for a change in the law, the two MPs proposed an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in June, BBC reported.

While the government initially waited for a review from the Law Commission, the Ministry of Justice has now on its own put forward an amendment to the bill in the Lords, the report said.

The law will make a new offence of "recording images of, or otherwise observing, breastfeeding without consent or a reasonable belief as to consent". To be found guilty, the perpetrator "must be acting for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, alarming or distressing the victim", the report added.