To denounce the expulsion from the Eaton Center of a mother who breastfed her baby in public, a hundred women gathered in the shopping center in downtown Montreal to feed their child in turn.
Posted at 2:59 p.m.
“We thought we were six or seven people, but in the end, we are a lot more! I can’t believe that in 2022, it’s still a taboo or a debate to breastfeed in public”, thunders Gabrielle Charest, one of the organizers of the event held on Sunday afternoon.
Breastfeeding rooms are not always quickly accessible. Women who do not use them, by choice or for lack of other options, should not be driven out of public space, she believes. “It’s just a baby who is hungry”, summarizes the mother while breastfeeding her baby.
Sitting on a bench in front of a store in the Eaton Center, Isabelle Côté breastfed her 4-month-old baby on March 19. To his surprise, a security officer at the establishment asked him to leave the premises. It was suggested that she use the breastfeeding room provided for this purpose.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Isabelle Côté and her son
“I felt like a thief. I felt humiliated. It’s beyond me that it happened to me, “said the mother in an interview with The Press about his misadventure. She decided to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission following the incident.
Eaton Center director Melyssa Houle said Saturday’s incident was an isolated incident. “The Montreal Eaton Center encourages breastfeeding in all its common areas, as prescribed by the Quebec and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” she wrote in an email.
Marie-Ève Héroux has never been shouted at by a disgruntled individual while she was breastfeeding her little Elliot. But the new mother sometimes feels stared at, when the act seems completely natural to her. “That’s why I was outraged. It touched me a lot. If your child eats a snack, will you hide it? she asks.
His mother, Isabelle Héroux, agrees. “In my time, it was still embarrassing, people didn’t understand. Years later, I don’t want my daughter to have to hide. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Breastfeeding rooms are not always quickly accessible. Women who don’t use them often have no other options.
Gabrielle Meloche, public affairs at Ivanhoé Cambridge, describes last Saturday’s event as an unfortunate incident. “It’s not even a debate that needs to be. Women have the right to breastfeed wherever they want. It’s really a mistake on the part of the security guard. »
The event was held not to defend it, but to normalize breastfeeding, insists Isabelle Côté. “What I understood this week is that this is not an isolated case. Dozens of mothers have experienced the same thing. Breastfeeding is difficult. You have to feel proud and comfortable doing it. »