Posted on 06/12/2007 10:02:27 PM PDT by Stoat
New Bill: Expectant and new mothers would be protected from discrimination
Nursing mothers will be allowed to breastfeed their babies wherever they like under new anti- discrimination laws announced yesterday.
Restaurants, cafes and shops which tried to ban them would face court action and fines of up to £2,500.
The move is a victory for pressure groups who have been asking for greater rights for mothers in the interests of better health for babies.
It will mean that mothers of children up to a year old will be able to feed them 'discreetly' in public - despite the misgivings of restaurant managers or the possible embarrassment of other diners.
The breakthrough for breastfeeding campaigners comes in a scheme for a sweeping new 'Single Equality Bill' designed to replace and streamline 40 years of legislation against prejudice.
The plans, outlined in a 190-page consultation paper from the Communities Department, include laws to curb bias against women at private clubs, new rules to try to ensure dignity for elderly people and 'balancing measures' to let police forces and other employers speed the careers of ethnic minority staff.
Mothers who breastfeed are regularly asked to leave business or public premises. In recent months, women have been asked to stop feeding and cover up in the National Gallery and Hampton Court palace in London.
Last month, the Mayor of Trafford in Greater Manchester, Dr Pauleen Lane, went to a tribunal after she was told she could not breastfeed in her official car.
In Scotland, however, it has been a criminal offence since 2005 to ban breastfeeding in cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops or public transport.
The maximum fine, £2,500, is likely to be followed in England and Wales, officials said yesterday.
The rules will be introduced as part of the Single Equality Bill by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, who is a longstanding supporter of breastfeeding.
As a junior member of the Government she took her third child Roisin, then three months old, on a parliamentary trip to Rome because she was breastfeeding her.
Campaigners said they were 'delighted' that the needs of nursing women out with their children had been recognised. But the National Childbirth Trust said the change should be extended to cover children more than a year old.
Rosie Dodds of the NCT said: "According to the latest survey, 13 per cent of women in England and 16 per cent in Wales have been asked to stop or made to feel uncomfortable when breastfeeding.
"We regularly receive calls from distressed mothers who have been told they can't breastfeed in restaurants or shops, or even in schools and health centres. It leaves them embarrassed, shocked and angry and it is time it stopped."
The consultation paper does not specifically mention breastfeeding, but ministers made clear that this would be the chief impact of new rules forbidding discrimination against pregnant women and mothers of babies.
Officials have no definition as yet of what 'discreetly' means. That will be decided when ministers assess the results of their consultation.
The consultation paper contains a raft of potentially controversial ideas. Police forces would be allowed to fast-track training for ethnic minority recruits.
Government bodies and local councils would, if the law goes through, be told that they must treat all religions equally.
The proposal could risk constitutional arguments because the Church of England remains the established state religion, and the head of state, the Queen, is its Supreme Governor.
But the consultation paper said councils will merely be told they should give equal support to voluntary groups from different religions.
The paper also proposes specialised discrimination courts - local county courts with judges trained in discrimination law.
There was criticism of the new plans from some groups - notably feminists disappointed at the lack of new laws on greater wage equality and organisations for the elderly who said measures against age discrimination should go further.
But ministers say a key aim is to simplify the law, to protect people rather than create extra bureaucracy.
The new anti-discrimination laws affects many different groups. To see if you're among them scroll down for more...
THE ELDERLY
New laws are likely to try to protect the dignity of vulnerable older people, both at home and in care homes. The idea follows six years of the Daily Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign.
Discrimination in goods and services against older people would also be banned - for example, banks would no longer be able to deny a credit card to a solvent person over 65 just because of their age.
But there would be some exemptions - there would be no block on companies providing holidays aimed specifically at over-55s or youth groups.
POLICE AND THE NHS
Police forces will be able to give favoured treatment to ethnic minority recruits under new 'balancing measures'.
The NHS will be allowed to open special facilities for gays and lesbians and ethnic minority groups to target illness and diseases particular prevalent among them.
But the consultation paper insists that this remains 'positive action' and does not cross the line into employment quotas or 'positive discrimination' that would mean minority members would be preferred for jobs and services over others.
AT THE GOLF CLUB
Private clubs with more than 25 members will no longer be able to discriminate on grounds of gender.
At the moment, golf clubs can ban women from their courses or clubhouses at popular times such as weekends and limit their rights to play.
Some stop women members joining management committees. Working men's clubs also often give women second-class status.
But single-sex clubs, for men or women, will still be allowed to exclude members of the opposite sex.
THE DISABLED
Landlords will be unable to refuse to put in facilities such as wheelchair ramps or stairlifts which help disabled tenants get in and out of buildings and public areas inside them, such as lounges.
The consultation paper says disabled people should not be forced into isolation because they cannot easily move outside their homes.
The new law is likely to affect large numbers of buy-to-let owners. But the cost of alterations will have to be met by the disabled tenants who ask for them, the paper said.
GENDER SWOPS
Britain's estimated 5,000 transsexuals will be brought under the umbrella of anti-discrimination laws.
The planned changes would prevent any public body treating transsexuals differently from other people and stop anyone denying them goods or services.
Religious organisations will have an exemption, however, to allow them to exclude transsexuals from jobs on doctrinal grounds. Sports will also be able to ban transsexuals from matches or events reserved for single-sex competitors.
Errr...how long until breastfeeding in public is changed because the Muslims might be offended and riot?
Oh lawd....
When that starts happening, I think that we should stop ALL immigration to the USA except for non-Muslims from Great Britain, so that they might have an opportunity to escape what has become a seething cauldron of total insanity.
...aka the “Lactation Location Law”
(furry stoat-chortle)
No, that’s ok - according to a recent Egyptian fatwa, if a woman breastfeeds a man five times, they can be considered family and left alone together. Just imagine, one happy family in Britain now, Muslim and kaffir alike.
Mrs VS
YUCK!!!!!! ...LOL
guess they didn’t think of that one.
yep....gross.
I’m ambivalent....not about breasts....I love them. God bless em...
But ...I am conflicted on breast feeding in public.
I think a bit of cover is better than letting it all hang out for sure..
My wives only breastfed for a month or so and used at least a big burp towel to cover the baby’s head well
then after a month, it was Enfamil Low Iron or Lipilease....it’s easier for night feeding...quicker....babies will suck on the teat leisurely....especially boys....they don’t feed as strongly...
Wow, could we get all of them together for a photo shoot of them breast feeding?
That'd be a classic...
It's unfortunate that these days the threat of instant international humiliation is required in order to encourage people to exercise the most basic and minimal forms of decorum, but if that's what it takes, so be it..
My first thought as well....
Dear UK Bureaucrats & assorted Pinheaded Paper-Pushers,
Don't you know that Muslim males nowadays slip into a maelstrom of pure temptation at the mere thought of an exposed breast?
I breastfed both my children well past 12 months, my first until 2 years and my daughter until 18 months. I never exposed my breasts, there is no need for that. With the right blouse, you can cover your “stuff” and allow the child to remain uncovered so that they don’t sweat while eating. There were many times that I could breastfeed and people would actually walk up to me and start talking, not knowing I was nursing at all. There is an art to it.
Your feelings of conflict would most likely disappear if there weren't so many slovenly women (notice I'm not using the complimentary term "Ladies") who care not a whit about the sensitivities of others. If the concepts of grace and decorum were universally adopted as a matter of course, this would never have arisen as an issue of law.
I think a bit of cover is better than letting it all hang out for sure..
Although the article states that the law specifies it be done 'discreetly', we can rest assured that there will always be those who insist on testing the limits of the law and will create public nuisances of themselves as a result. The already overworked police of Great Britain will find themselves needing to determine whether vaguely expressed "discretion": standards are being complied with, and this vagueness will encourage activists to push for a complete revocation of all allusions to 'discretion' in the law.
We saw a woman pumping her breast in Disneyworld last week, letting it all hang out. It was disgusting, we had kids there.
I don’t think the female body is dirty, but there is such a thing as propriety. I personally think women that do stuff like that are exhibitionists. They have a sexual screw lose somewhere.
What an awful thing for your family to be subjected to. I'm so sorry that you had a joyous time spoiled by such a lowlife.
I don’t think the female body is dirty, but there is such a thing as propriety. I personally think women that do stuff like that are exhibitionists. They have a sexual screw lose somewhere.
That may well be, although I tend to lean toward the feeling that they simply have no class, and have a disdain for traditional concepts of courtesy and decency; if they ever learned such things to begin with..
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