Frequent nurse-ins and harrassments lately???

[Pam_and_Abigail]

Does it seem like lately there have been more and more stories about women being harrassed about NIP, and nurse-ins to fight back? Is it an increase in reporting of these in light of the new ad campaign, or is it an actual increase in incidents? Any speculation? I wonder if the ad campaign actually makes people who are against bf get defensivce and rude...?

[tammylc]

I think that incidents are just getting better press coverage and being considered more "newsworthy" because of the hype and hubub around the ad campaign, not that they're actually happening any more often.

[Janice in Canada]

In regards to how many are being posted on this site - I recently figured out how to get Google to send me alerts to any news reports that include the words "breastfeeding" or "breast milk". so I've gotten a few of these alerts, and have been starting the threads called "NIP incident in ****" I was surprised how many times this came up in just a few weeks, but since its been such a short time, I don't know if this is a true increase or just better media monitoring.

Overall, I've been on the boards and doing bfing advocacy for about 6 years now - I do think that these incidents are getting more publicity now. I think more moms are NIP, and that more are willing to say no to someone who harrasses them, and to take it to the media. I absolutely think bfing is increasing, and that this is the normal sequence of events, as bfing comes out of the closet and slowly pushes to be accepted in society. I think it will become a "hot topic" that will be on the news and talk shows, soon, just like homosexuality, child abuse, eating disorders, etc did in past years.

I think it is a good sign that we are seeing these media stories. It means that moms are standing up for their rights. That's why I think its important to post and distribute these stories - not for moms to feel harrassed or defeated - but to feel solidarity and encouraged by these brave moms who didn't slink quietly in the nearest bathroom.

Janice