Lisa Isaacs
A GROUP of mothers gathered for a mass breast-feeding protest at Edgars in Cavendish Square yesterday after a mother had been kicked out of the store for attempting to change and breast-feed her child earlier this month.
The protest advocated the normalisation of breast-feeding in public spaces and was in direct response to mother Tasneem Botha being kicked out of the store and humiliated.
Edgars came under fire after the incident and later apologised to Botha.
Yesterday about 30 mothers, fathers and children gathered at the store, where moms breast-fed their little ones.
Anél Olsson, of the Normalise Breast-Feeding SA Campaign, said: “There’s a very patriarchal mindset about breast-feeding in public. If you are not being shamed by a guy, you’re being shamed by other women.
“Moms are often asked to go to a second location when they’re breast-feeding… and you don’t want to be split from your family or what you’re doing to breast-feed.”
She said if Edgars was willing to change in-store policies and promote breast-feeding, it could set a precedent. “Breast-feeding is supported and promoted and yet, even though we have fantastic policies, what happens on ground zero is a completely different story,” she said.
Ruth Erasmus, who attended the protest with her three-month-old daughter Abigail, said mothers should be made to feel comfortable when feeding their babies.
“I’ve not experienced something like Tasneem’s ordeal, but I can only imagine how horrible it was for her. As a mother you just want to make your baby happy and to be humiliated like that, it is completely horrendous in this day and age,” she said.
“To deny your baby just because you need to be out and about in public is not okay.”
Botha, who did not attend the nurse-in, thanked everyone for their support. “I am grateful for all the positives that has come out of this and hoping this is a start in changing mindsets when it comes to breast-feeding,” she said.
Edcon said: “We are working with breast-feeding advocacy groups to accommodate breast-feeding moms in Edcon’s stores. One is Normalise Breast-Feeding SA, which we collaborated with to support a successful awareness campaign today.”
@lisa_isaacs