Disneyland Paris, Europe’s biggest tourist attraction, struck a bad chord with social media users on Tuesday, July 5, after a photo showing two members of its security staff ordering a mother to stop breastfeeding her baby inside the park’s premises made the rounds online.
As seen in the photo posted on Twitter, the incident involved two guards standing over two women sitting on a bench, one of them holding a small baby close. The witness, Twitter user @marieastier, called out Disneyland Paris for “preventing a mother from breastfeeding her 2-month-old baby on the grounds that it shocked foreign customers.”
“In France, in July 2021! The offense of obstructing breastfeeding, where are we?” said the author, who added in a subsequent tweet that the mother being apprehended was Australian.
In response, Disneyland Paris tweeted an apology which was also directed to France’s minister for citizenship, Marlene Schiappa. In its remorse, the amusement park claimed that the act did not reflect their regulations and that no such restriction is enforced within the park.
“We deeply regret this situation and once again offer our sincere apologies to the mother concerned. The request made of it is not in line with our internal regulations and our values,” Disneyland Paris tweeted. “There is no restriction on breastfeeding at Disneyland Paris.”
“Disneyland Paris provides parents with young children with various service locations within the destination for those who would prefer a dedicated location. Disneyland Paris is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all families,” the management’s translated tweet read.
Disneyland Paris also replied to another Twitter user explaining their designated facility for breastfeeding mothers.
“Disneyland Paris provides mothers with the BABY CARE CENTER with suitable and comfortable equipment such as special breastfeeding seats,” it clarified.
Unortunately, Minister Schiappa, who served as minister for gender equality, still admonished the amusement park for seemingly sounding non-apologetic by “stigmatizing mothers” in expressing its regret.
“Dear @DisneylandParis, breastfeeding a baby is not an offence. It’s good that you have dedicated rooms but no-one knows when and where a baby will be hungry,” she wrote.
“Don’t you also start stigmatising mothers, it’s hard enough like that elsewhere,” she added.
Disneyland Paris did not respond further.
