Denied the right to breastfeed: a mother’s complaint letter
Emma Ward’s letter to the Barbican, 21st March 2019
Hi Lisa Marie, India and Jonathan,
I visited Squish Space with my nine-month-old daughter today. I am writing to you as the artists behind that space and as the Operations Director. Are you aware that the attendants for Squish Space have been told by their manager to stop mothers from breastfeeding in the space?
As I'm sure you know, the Equalities Act 2010 protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in public by prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and victimisation against her for do so. This means a business cannot ask a breastfeeding woman to leave, move, cover up or refuse to serve her based on breastfeeding. The protection applies to any public space, so legally the attendant had no grounds whatsoever to make his demand.
My account is as follows: I was in the space from 2-3pm, at first in a group then alone with my daughter. Several of us in the group were breastfeeding our babies. The attendant came over and said eating and drinking in the space was not allowed. He muttered something about feeding babies. He did not speak clearly or listen to us when we asked him to explain further on this second point. We were baffled to be honest as none of us was eating or drinking and we did not for one minute think he could possibly have taken issue with babies breastfeeding, particularly in a space designed for babies and young children. We therefore assumed that he had been confused by the drinks bottles full of colourful liquids which are part of the installation. We put it down to a misunderstanding and carried on as we were.
Ten minutes later the attendant approached the women who were breastfeeding near us and announced quite clearly that breastfeeding, along with all other eating and drinking, is not allowed in the space. He said that it is dirty and that the space needs to be kept clean. One of the mothers cried and packed up her stuff in response. I stepped in and politely explained to the attendant the legal right of any person wanting to breastfeed their child in public. The attendant brushed this off, said 'take it up with my manager', and then walked off whilst I was still talking to him.
I then breastfed my daughter, who was hungry, as is my legal right. The attendant eyeballed me, but said nothing. When we left I spoke to him politely and asked him to speak to his manager and inform him about the Equalities Act 2010. After I explained my position he said that he would do so, but that he had expressly been instructed to stop people from breastfeeding in the space and was just doing his job.
Now, whilst I want to sympathise with the demands made of front of house staff, I'm sure that I do not need to explain why all of this is awful... But for the sake of a full account:
1. In the UK we have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe because of behaviour like this.
2. Legally this is unacceptable.
3. Having a male attendant looming over you telling you to stop breastfeeding your baby, when you are sitting on the floor with your breast out to feed your little one is threatening, even if not intended as such. Many women feel extremely vulnerable when breastfeeding publicly, even without that sort of intervention. It did not surprise me that someone (very discretely) cried and then left.
4. The whole purpose of that otherwise fabulous space is that it is supposed to be welcoming to families, because of this, it was not. It pretty much ruined my day, although I tried to stick it out for my daughter to enjoy the squishy delights.
5. He was rude and dismissive of us all. The assumption that mothers are to shut up and put up (which was implicit in his tone) was similarly offensive. We were not made to feel like guests in the space. We were treated as an inconvenience, particularly in attempting dialogue in the space (although I did get him to listen outside after we left the space).
6. It is only a breast. Part of a person. Not dirty, not shameful, not sexual, not an object, not anyone else's business actually.
7. When babies want to breastfeed, they should just be fed, however their parent sees fit.
I tweeted @barbicancentre whilst I was in the space (https://twitter.com/emmamlward/status/1108738137516396545), but have not yet received a response even though the Barbican twitter account has been active since then. I hope that you are as mortified by this state of affairs as I was - I really hoped for better from the Barbican.
Please could you ensure that this is fixed - some signs saying 'breastfeeding welcome' would be a nice touch. Several of my parenting peers will be keen to hear your response I am sure. They are eager to breastfeed in the space soon either way...
Kind regards,
Emma
Links:
https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/breastfeeding-in-public-places/