The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee will represent Denitsa Panayotova in a lawsuit in defense of the right of women to breastfeed in public places.

The lawsuit has been issued against a mall in Bulgaria's capital Sofia and in particular against the store, whose security guard asked the woman to stop breastfeeding her child.

''My child was crying because it was tired and hungry,'' said Panayotova, as reported by OFFNews. ''My natural reaction was to breastfeed it and so that it can calm down and feel better. I never believed that this could be perceived as unpleasant.''

Immediately she was asked to stop breastfeeding her child, the woman submitted a written complaint to the management of the mall. The chief of security, however, confirmed that breastfeeding on the territory of the mall is unwelcome and the sight of women breastfeeding their children was unsettling for the rest of the customers.

Panayotova said that she deemed the situation deeply humiliating, as she was merely trying to take care of her child.

In legal terms, the case is an example of gender discrimination and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee stated that breastfeeding in public locations should be seen as a natural condition of a mother, taking care of her child.

''The right of private and family life of every person is guaranteed by article 8 in the European Convention on Human Rights,'' said lawyer Daniela Fartunova.

She further stated that women have the right of breastfeeding their children whenever and wherever they want and the international courts are largely in favor of that.

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