Bangladesh
Breastfeeding Corner High Court pronounces ground breaking verdict on setting up breastfeeding corner
Dhaka, Sept 20: The full copy of the judgment passed by the High Court has been published directing the setting up of breastfeeding corners in public places like workplaces, airports, bus stands, railway stations, shopping malls and in government controlled and managed statutory, autonomous and public-private institutions. This is the first time in the judicial history of Bangladesh that such a judgment has been given against the writ of a nine-month-old child.
The six-page verdict was released on Tuesday after the signatures of the two judges who gave the verdict - Zubair Rahman Chowdhury and Kazi Ibadat Hossain.
In the observation of the High Court judgment, the matter of children's breast feeding is very sensitive and important. There is no denying that a baby needs breast milk from birth to 2 years. In most cases, mothers are working in various public and private sectors. Therefore, it is necessary to have a breast feeding room in all types of institutions.
All public places including shopping malls, bus terminals, railway stations, launch ghats need to have breast feeding rooms so that all mothers can breastfeed their babies. No mother and child should be put in a painful situation like the petitioners in this writ.
In the verdict, the court also said that the breastfeeding rooms should be safe and well-equipped with good ventilation and so that mothers can use them comfortably.
The judgment commended the airport authorities for setting up breast-feeding corners, a positive step which this Court appreciates. Although many places already have breast-feeding rooms, other public places need to do so. The court expressed hope that all concerned authorities would take all steps to set up breast-feeding rooms for mothers within the earliest reasonable time.
The petitioner expressed sincere thanks to the lawyer Ishrat Hasan for presenting this matter of public importance to the court in observation of the judgment in the court. At the end of the judgment, the court mentioned that never before a nine-month-old child filed a writ. This child made history.
