Several movements advocating for the right to breastfeed in public have recently emerged in different countries around the world.

In Kenya, women protested in a restaurant where a waitress had asked a woman to go to the restrooms to breastfeed her baby.

In Chile, a communications agency aired a TV message that highlighted the fact that no law protects breastfeeding women, nor do they have any legal recourse if they were harassed while breastfeeding. The video – which argued that it was easier to breastfeed in a nightclub than in the street – stirred lots of discussion. Several protests were also organized, with mothers breastfeeding in the streets.

>> READ ON THE OBSERVERS: In Chile, ‘it’s easier to breastfeed in a nightclub than in the street’

In the Observers’ TV show, we took a look at these recent protests. They are the latest examples of a wider movement that has existed since the 1950s, as our Observer explains in this excerpt from our show. Flore Marquier-Diers is the president of the French chapter of Leche League, an international organisation that defends and promotes breastfeeding.

