Rita Matias proposes setting up a breastfeeding room in Parliament

A mrs Matias, from Enough, proposed the creation of a breastfeeding room in the Assembly of the Republic, arguing that Parliament should set an example in this matter and ensure a solution that can be found for the future.

In statements to the agency Lusa, Rita Matias, who was a mother just over a month ago, indicated that she made a “formal proposal” at the conference of leaders of last day 07 so that there are adequate conditions in Parliament for the extraction and storage of breast milk.

The MP said that the “Enough had already had several internal discussions on the subject” and that this suggestion “was not necessarily motivated” by its current circumstance, “but because it could have already happened to other Members”.

“ We also later contacted the office of the President of the Assembly of the Republic and we learned from one of their advisors who will meet with the Secretary-General and try to understand in the management of the spaces of Parliament whether it is possible or not to accommodate a room for breastfeeding,” he said.

Rita Matias justified that there is currently no “no decent space” in the Assembly of the Republic for the extraction and storage of breast milk and stressed that “this response can stay even for the future, to ensure that no woman has to feel that she eventually has to give up breastfeeding in order to return to the exercise of her duties or that she does not have a decent space”.

“ I think it was a positive legacy that Enough could leave in this house, also in defense of women and their participation, so that they do not have to give up their political space, the space that is often won by pulse, only and only because they were mothers ", defended.

She said she hoped that “the office of the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the Secretary-General could be sensitive to the issue, because there are certainly more women who will face this situation”, but she has not yet had a prediction.

Rita Matias admitted that this request “is not easy for the management of the Assembly” with regard to the organization of spaces, but is “something necessary” now and for the future, and can be used by both MPs and employees.

“ It is something that many companies in the private already give, some public spaces also already, and therefore it makes no sense the house of democracy is not also a reference example for the other spaces where there are women ", sustained.

On her return to office a few days after she was a mother and the decision not to take parental leave, although labour law provides for a compulsory leave of 42 days for her mother immediately after the party, Rita Matias justified that she is governed by the statute of Members.

“ We are under a different legal regime. For workers on behalf of others it is true, however I do not have a contract with the Assembly of the Republic, nor the Assembly of the Republic with me, is a public office and, therefore, this question has not been raised and I can also reconcile by the exceptionality of parliamentary functions ", sustained.

She also said that she wanted to “give a signal that there is no need to make a choice” between a political career and motherhood.