Is it Legal to Breastfeed in Public Places?
You often see articles in the media, or reports on the news about mothers breastfeeding in public, and they may have been asked to leave the premises or cover up.
This is really a two-fold question... Is it legal to breastfeed in public places? Is it legal to ask someone who is breastfeeding to cover up?
Is it Legal to Breastfeed in Public Places?
Yes, it's legal to breastfeed in public. This is covered by the
Equality Act, which states it's sex discrimination to treat a
woman unfavourably if she's breastfeeding. A woman
cannot be prosecuted for breastfeeding under public
decency laws. You should not be made to feel uncomfortable
when breastfeeding.
You may be asked to cover up.
You have the right to refuse to cover your baby whilst feeding. You can challenge people who tell you to stop breastfeeding in public.
The If you are in a bar, restaurant or cafe you can be asked to leave, but not because you are breastfeeding. To stay would mean you are trespassing which could lead to a fine. A guide produced by the Government Equalities Office to explain the 2010 Equality Act to businesses selling goods and services states: “A business may ask a breastfeeding woman to leave their premises if the reason for this request is not due to her breastfeeding. However, if the woman later claims that discrimination occurred because she was breastfeeding, the business will have to prove that there was in fact no discrimination.”
A breastfeeding mum can ignore people who ask her to stop feeding. She can carry on. However, she has no specific legal protection or legal recourse for their objection to breastfeeding in public. But, if the remarks become aggressive or abusive then women have a right to report this as she does other forms of abuse.
