Harriet Harman And Desperate Media Jump On Woman Thrown Off Bus For Breastfeeding
AMY Wootten was the Mirror’s “Mum thrown off bus for breastfeeding her baby girl”. Ms Wootten – oh, the irony – hails form Bristol City:
The story was laced with adjectives and sympathetic back story:
The stunned learning support assistant, who had to fork out £8 for a taxi home, said: “The driver told me someone had said I was indecently exposing myself… If I hadn’t fed her, Emily would have screamed and we would probably have had more complaints from people.”
The Mail evoked more sympathy:
A mother was accused of indecent exposure and thrown off a bus after breastfeeding her six-week-old baby… He said another passenger had made a complaint about her behaviour and then ordered her out on to the pavement in the rain.
The bus company, First, reacts by apologising and sending Amy flowers and vouchers. Good, but not good enough for our top politicos with an agenda, though:
Yesterday Harriet Harman the Minister for Women and Equality, warned First and other companies that such incidents would become illegal under the new equality bill going through Parliament. Labour Deputy Leader Ms Harman said: “I’m glad the bus company has apologised.
The Mirror lined up the usual experts to say how terrible it all is:
But Nicki Symes, breast-feeding specialist for NHS Bristol, blasted: “I feel very sorry for this mother. It is really disappointing.”
It’s a heated media debate in the Mirror:
SHOULD MOTHERS BREAST-FEED IN PUBLIC?
YES says Anna Burbridge La Leche League GB
Many new mothers are worried about going out and about with their baby for fear of finding themselves criticised for breastfeeding and this is very upsetting and traumatic…
NO says Ann Widdecombe Tory MP for Maidstone and the Weald
I think in this instance the bus driver was within his rights to ask the mother to get off…
The woman who claimed she was thrown off a bus for breastfeeding her six-week-old baby made the story up…
The woman who claimed she was thrown off a bus for breastfeeding her six-week-old baby made the story up.
Bus driver Rob Stone – “the former mental health worker” – offers his version:
“It was a very ordinary journey. I have a laugh and joke with the passengers and know some of the people who get on and off, but I was not aware of any problem whatsoever…”
He was told of the matter:
“I knew it wasn’t right but I knew we would have the footage. My only concern was that it might not have been working. There was a mix of emotions and a little bit of stress but I felt relief that I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong.”
The paper investigates:
When the Post visited Miss Wootten, 25, yesterday to ask her to explain the CCTV footage from the bus she was adamant that the incident had happened the way she had originally recounted it.
Tomorrow join our a huge media debate on the dangers of bus driving and CCTV perving at breastfeeding women’s breasts…
Posted: 1st, March 2010 | In: News Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
