The government has announced new measures to clamp down on breastfeeding voyeurs.
Changes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill mean it will soon be a criminal offence to capture photos or video footage of a woman breastfeeding without her permission.
Instances where the person is trying to gain sexual gratification, or to cause the woman breastfeeding “humiliation, distress or alarm” will be punishable by up to two years in prison.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, has welcomed the law change. The 44-year-old has been campaigning for breastfeeding photos to be outlawed, after being photographed while breastfeeding her four-month-old on a train near Highbury and Islington, London.
“That breast pests can now be stopped is testament to the hard work of campaigner Julia Cooper, Jeff Smith MP, Baroness Helene Hayman and Lord Pannick,” she told The Independent.
“We all worked across both the Lords and Commons to make the government listen to our call for change.”
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill also sees a major change into the time limits into reporting domestic abuse.
Previously, there was a six-month limit for domestic abuse victims to report any acts of violence carried out by their partner.
The changes mean victims will now have up to two years to report incidents of domestic abuse.
Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, has “strongly welcomed” the proposed new measures.
“It is important that all domestic abuse victims have the time and opportunity to report to the police,” she said. “This is especially important following Covid restrictions, when many victims faced additional challenges to seeking help and reporting domestic abuse.
“I want to see increased prosecutions for domestic abuse, and hope to see that as these measures remove another barrier to bringing perpetrators to justice.”
The news comes after domestic violence cases were thought to have soared throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Calls and contacts logged on Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline were up by over 61 per cent between April 2020 and February 2021.
If you have been affected by the content in this article, please contact Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Kimberley Bond