A mother-of-three said she felt "violated" after discovering personal photographs from her private Instagram account of her breastfeeding her children were published on a fetish site.
Helen Atthowe said she also felt "harassed" when she tried to get the images removed and has called on the social media company to do more to protect its users and tighten up its safety policies.
The company director, from Wroxham, has been an advocate for normalising and desexualising breastfeeding ever since her first child was born eight years ago.
The 35-year-old has gone on to create social media accounts to support other breastfeeding mothers.
Helen-ffffffffd03ed0c8
But she was horrified to learn that private photographs of her feeding her children, as well as those of her followers, had been used and shared on Instagram.
She said: “I was taken by surprise.
“I got a direct message on Instagram from this man asking me if I was breastfeeding, so I looked at his page.
“There were several images he’d taken from my private Instagram, and men had ‘liked’ them and written ‘beautiful’ underneath with the face emoji with heart eyes.
“The man who reposted them had also shared the images as Instagram stories."
In screenshot images shared with the Eastern Daily Press, Mrs Atthowe politely asked the user to delete the images, which he refused to do.
He then went on to video call her up to 30 times within the space of 90 minutes.
She believes the images must have been taken from her profile by one of her followers.
She added: “The whole thing left me feeling unsafe and violated but I then I thought about how I am trying to normalise this, so why should I let him ruin that?
“I have deleted every follow I have who is not a woman and I have stopped using hashtags.
“My followers have also said they feel unsafe. Everyone is just in disbelief that this is a thing that happens.
“It’s not just the images but also the harassment.
“Social media platforms need to tighten up on their safety policies and protect their users.”
The now-deleted photographs contained images of her children's faces and other images taken from Mrs Atthowe’s followers including a picture featuring an exposed nipple.
Mrs Atthowe and others complained to Instagram, but the company claimed that the user was not in violation of any of the platform’s rules.
Mrs Atthowe added: “Thankfully, my husband Andy was able to get the images deleted using a different process on Instagram. But it wasn’t through using the platform’s usual reporting process.”
A spokesman for Meta - Instagram's parent company - said: "We’re sorry to hear about the experience of these women and have removed the offending account from Instagram. We want everyone to feel safe, which is why we have our community guidelines, and we’ve built features to help protect people from unwanted contact, including the ability to block people and filter direct messages.”
This is not the first time Mrs Atthowe has experienced abuse for breastfeeding.
“I have had people complain before but I’m very passionate about normalising breastfeeding.
“Once in a supermarket, a customer complained about me to a member of staff. I was offered a quiet room to breastfeed but I explained I was happy where I was.
“Another time, when we were visiting the Science Museum in London, a man told me I was disgusting. I informed him that if he did not like it, then he should stop looking.
“It’s mostly positive feedback I get, but there are still a few idiots.”
Mrs Atthowe has breastfed all of her children; her eight-year-old until the age of two, her five-year-old until the age of three, and she is currently breastfeeding her 11-month-old.
NHS guidelines on breastfeeding in public
- Breastfeeding in public can mean breastfeeding in front of a relative or friend in your own home, or in a public place, such as a cafe or shopping centre.
- During your baby's first few days, you may prefer to breastfeed only where you feel most comfortable. But, as you get more used to doing it, you're likely to feel more confident about breastfeeding in front of other people when you're out and about.
- Most people support women breastfeeding in public. The more it's done, the more normal it will become.
- Know your rights. You should not ever be made to feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public. It is illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to leave a public place, such as a cafe, shop or public transport.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here