Please sign the petition here: change.org/breastfeedinpeace
Email template:
Subject: Breastfeeding in public and photographing without consent
Dear MP’s NAME,
I am writing to you as one of your constituents about a matter recently raised in Parliament.
Jeff Smith MP asked the Leader of the House of Commons how it was legal that a man was legally able to photograph a mother as she breastfed her baby in a park in Manchester. He did not receive a satisfactory reply, and has since put down an amendment to the Police Crime and Sentencing Bill 2021 that would make it an offence to take images of breastfeeding without consent.
I am shocked that such voyeurism is legal. There seems to be a glaring gap in protections, which crosses The Equality Act 2010, which protects breastfeeding women from discrimination, The Harassment Act 1997 which only protects victims of persistent photographing, and the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 which currently does not protect breastfeeders who have had images recorded without their consent.
This “grey area” on photographing breastfeeding women and their babies is in urgent need of address. For a woman to be photographed by a stranger during an intimate but completely natural act is distressing and violating. This feels no different to upskirting, which was only made illegal in 2019.
I am asking you to please support the amendment to the Police Crime and Sentencing Bill, that would make it a crime to take images of breastfeeding without consent. Breastfeeding mothers need more protection under the law from voyeurs.
Kind regards,
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR FULL ADDRESS YOUR PHONE NUMBER (where possible)
Your details above are required by a parliamentary convention that MPs can only deal with matters raised by their own constituents. You can find your MPs contact information here: https://members.parliament.uk/