Following the recent ejection of a breastfeeding woman from a Victorian court, the Greens are calling on the state government to update laws to prevent discrimination against those breastfeeding in all public places.
Last month, backlash erupted after the Victorian County Court judge Mark Gamble kicked out a mother breastfeeding her child from a Melbourne court, labelling her a “distraction.”
The incident brought public attention to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s lack of clear ruling surrounding anti-discrimination laws applying to courts.
Calling out the need for this loophole to be closed, the Victorian Greens are saying the Government needs to amend the Equal Opportunity Act to make it explicit that people can’t be discriminated against for breastfeeding in public areas of courts as well as all other public places in Victoria.
The current law covers employment, education, the provision of goods and services and accommodations, but the Greens say grey areas for certain public places like courtrooms have been highlighted through recent events.
Regarding how Gamble was able to remove the woman for feeding her child, there are court rules in place that people aren’t allowed to eat, drink or wear clothing like sunglasses and hats.
Deputy leader of the Greens, Ellen Sandell said that if the Victorian Government didn’t fix the loophole, the Greens would bring their own bill to Parliament.
“There is clearly a loophole in the law in Victoria that still allows women to be excluded from public spaces like the courts, simply for needing to breastfeed a baby,” said Sandell.
“Women should be able to breastfeed their babies wherever and whenever they need to because it’s a simple biological fact that when babies need to feed they cannot wait, not to mention that delaying or skipping breastfeeding can lead to serious health problems for the mother, like mastitis.”
No stranger to the fight for normalising breastfeeding in public spaces, Sandell was the second woman to ever breastfeed in the Victorian Parliament. This was fifteen years after the first to do so, Kirstie Marshall, who was kicked out of parliament 2003 for doing so.
“Whenever my babies needed to feed, I breastfed them, including in Parliament, churches, cafes, and even on the curb in the city when there was nowhere to sit,” said Sandell.
“Telling women they cannot breastfeed in a public place is humiliating and degrading, it sends the signal that women are not welcome in public spaces.”
