The Secret World Of Videotaping Women As They Pump Breast Milk
The other day we wrote about John Bednarik, the dude at DeSales University who secretly filmed a topless co-worker pumping breast milk in her office. He allegedly drilled a small hole in a ceiling tile and hid a camera inside, then viewed the footage “for the purpose of his own sexual arousal and gratification.” Apparently, lactating women is an actual fetish for some. It even has a name lactophilia (aka “erotic lactation” or “milk fetishism”). But clearly that’s not the issue here. Whatever Bednarik is into sexually is his own business; so long as it’s consensual, he’s free to do whatever tickles his fancy. But in this case, there was no consent whatsoever: this poor woman had no clue she was being videotaped. (Talk about invasion of privacy!).
And you know? She’s not alone. Turns out there’s a whole secret world of women being videotaped while they pump breast milk. As in, it’s a thing. A bit of research led me to some rather disturbing news stories not dissimilar to the Bednarik one. In Taiwan, for example, a teacher was arrested for secretly videotaping five female colleagues pumping their breast milk in the nursing room of a school. According to the report, the 41-year-old teacher married with two children was also a member of the school committee to promote gender equality and prevent assault and harassment (oh, the irony). Anyway, he had installed a pinhole camera on the nursing room’s bookshelf, which one of the female teachers discovered one day while pumping.
Closer to home, a 46-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to two years’ probation and 150 hours of community service after secretly videotaping a Steelcase co-worker pumping breast milk for her infant. “I want you to think about what you did to this young lady,” said the court judge. “How would you feel if someone did that to your wife?”
I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised that this is happening around the world. It seems every day there’s a new report of hidden cameras found in a women’s change room or bathroom, for instance, or even a pole-dancing class (!). It’s creepy, that’s for sure, but not exactly shocking. On this site alone we’ve covered off such stories, including the one about Jeremy Lee, a Chicago teacher who was arrested for allegedly using his iPhone to take photos underneath a woman’s skirt during an outdoor festival.
I cannot even imagine how violated these women felt. It’s upsetting to know that there are men out there willing to sexualize basic human acts, especially ones that involve babies. Again, it’s not the fetish itself that I’m criticizing to each his own but rather the despicable act of videotaping someone without their knowledge. It makes me shudder to think not only that this is happening, but that many of these videos end up online without anyone’s knowledge or consent.
(Photo: Julius Elias/Shutterstock)