Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking changes in laws to allow women to be topless in public places where men are permitted to be barechested, as a form of gender equality. Specifically, the movement seeks the repeal or overturning of laws which restrict a woman's right not to have her chest covered at all times in public.
In addition, topfreedom advocates seek allowing nursing mothers to openly breastfeed in public.
Social and legal attitudes
Many societies consider women who expose their nipples and areolae as immodest and contrary to social norms. In many jurisdictions a topless woman may be cited for public lewdness, indecent exposure, public indecency or disorderly conduct. Independently from the legality of the practice, topless women may also face harassment. Topfreedom advocates seek to change community attitudes to breasts as sex objects or indecent.
Several countries in Europe have decriminalised non-sexual toplessness. Topless swimming and sunbathing on beaches has become acceptable in many parts of Europe, though the practice remains controversial in many places, and not common in most places. Many public swimming pools in Europe are owned by municipalities, which are treated as private organisations and allowed to set their dress codes.
Breastfeeding
In many countries around the world, breastfeeding in public is not unusual. During 2006–2010 and earlier, a number of news reports in the United States cited incidents where women were refused service or harassed for breastfeeding in public. In response, a majority of U.S. states have passed laws explicitly permitting nursing in public. The United States federal government enacted a law in 1999 which specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location." However, these laws generally do not apply to rules imposed by private organizations or on private property, such as restaurants, airlines, or shopping malls.
Topfreedom by country Asia Taiwan
In support of Icelandic student Adda Smaradottir's FreeTheNipple act in public cyberspace, young women uploaded their topless photos to Facebook and protested against its Community Standards of considering women's breasts as sexual materials. Those photos and related news articles were blocked initially, but Facebook considered those photos did not violate Community Standards.
Europe Denmark Bathing and sunbathing in the nude (including topless) is legal on Danish beaches.Strandguiden: Lovgivningen om nøgenbadning. Retrieved 8 July 2016. Nudity and toplessness in other public outdoor places is generally also legal, unless it involves "offensive conduct" or is likely to cause public outrage.Nordjyske Stiftstidende (2 August 2013). Nøgen i det grønne. Retrieved 8 June 2016. The public outrage law is rarely used in practice, but in 1972 audience members were convicted of being nude in the Royal Danish Theatre. In December 2007, a group of women and men calling themselves Topless Front swam topless in public swim baths to promote topless equality. In March 2008, after a campaign by the group, Copenhagen's Culture and Leisure Committee voted to allow topless bathing in its swimming pools. After the committee had voted, it was revealed that no laws had existed against topless bathing, effectively making the vote unnecessary. However, some public baths had (and have) restricted it themselves. Public breastfeeding is supported by the vast majority of both sexes in Denmark,BT (7 April 2007). Café-amning er ok. Retrieved 8 June 2016. is entirely legal and accepted in almost all places, except for a few private cafés and restaurants that have restricted it.Amme Net: Offentlig amning . Retrieved 8 June 2016.Politiken (28 September 2011). Guide: Her er du fri for bare bryster midt i maden. Retrieved 8 June 2016.BT (27 September 2011). Loven støtter ammeforbud på cafeer. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
Finland
In Finland, toplessness is not illegal, yet topless women have been removed from beaches. and criticized this and organized Finland's first event demanding topless equality, called Tissiflashmob (breast flash mob). On Finland's Independence day, 6 December 2019, both Marins and Vallarén showed their breasts on live TV and it sparked a lot of conversation. Tissiflashmob 2020 was bigger than the previous one, now organized at the same time in eight different cities. The city of Helsinki has decided to allow topless sunbathing on its beaches in 2023, regardless of gender.
France In France, the feminist collective Les TumulTueuses organized a topfree protest in Paris in May 2009. It is legal to sunbathe topless in France, although local regulations may ban the practice with directives about clothing.
A survey in 2019 found regional differences; on the Côte d'Azur and Provence, 36% of women said they go topless at the beach, but in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté only 8%.
In 2020, after a police incident, topless sunbathing was defended by the French interior minister.
Germany
The "Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte" sued in 2021 at the Kammergericht after a woman was not allowed to go topless at Plansche playground in Berlin. The court decided that toplessness is allowed because of the equality clause of the Grundgesetzhttps://freiheitsrechte.org/themen/soziale-teilhabe/ladg-planschehttps://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/ag-brandenburg-30c18124-nichtbinaere-person-therapie-diskriminierung-agghttps://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/kg-9u9422-plansche-oben-ohne-nackt-brust-brueste-ladg-diskriminierung-berlin-anerkenntnis
Greece In Greece, toplessness is legal.
Iceland In Iceland, toplessness is legal.
Italy Female toplessness has been officially legalized (in a nonsexual context) in all public beaches and swimming pools throughout the country (unless otherwise specified by region, province or municipality by-laws) on 20 March 2000, when the Supreme Court of Cassation (through sentence No. 3557) determined that the exposure of the nude female breast, after several decades, is now considered a "commonly accepted behavior", and therefore, has "entered into the social costume".
Poland In Poland in 2008–2009, two women from Szczecin including glamour model Dorota Krzysztofek, won a court battle that reasserted the women's right to sunbathe topless on public beaches. Krzysztofek, along with her female companion, were fined by local municipal officials for topless sunbathing at a public recreation area. The women refused to pay the fine and took the matter to Civil Court. Their first hearing had to be postponed due to remarkable media interest.
On November 7, 2008, judge Szczepańska upheld the city staff decision, and charged the women with indecent exposure, explaining that their personal freedoms cannot encroach on the freedoms of families with children who frequent the same recreation spot. Although topless sunbathing is not prohibited in Poland, the judge sentenced them to pay a fine of 230 zlotys (150 zlotys by different source, or €40, $55) for breaking the rules of conduct. In her rationale, the judge also said that it is not up to the defendants to teach youngsters human anatomy; however, her decision was appealed by Krzysztofek's female friend soon afterwards, with the plea of not guilty.
In 2009, the appellate court declared both women to be innocent, because the city staff were unable to prove that anyone at the beach was indignant or scandalized by their toplessness, and no complaint was ever reported. On the contrary, some visitors stood up to their defense. There were no signs at the recreation area against what is otherwise legal. The appellate court's decision was binding, but it also created an aura of ambivalence, with topless sunbathing in public declared acceptable only if nobody else including families with children formally objects to it.
Romania In Romania, women are allowed to appear topless in public as long as it does not have sexual connotations.
Spain There are no laws in Spain that officially prohibit public nudity (in a non-sexual context), and because of this, both topless sunbathing and naturism (the latter on a smaller scale) are frequently practiced without any issues in all beaches throughout the country, while the number of partakers may vary depending on the location and the day. It is very common in the Balearic Islands, Canaries, Costa Brava and Costa del Sol (a few municipalities, such as Barcelona, have created by-laws to forbid public nudity, including female toplessness on their streets, not on the beach). Due to the widespread practice of topless sunbathing, the municipalities of Galdakao and L'Ametlla del Vallès decided to legalize female toplessness on their public pools (in March 2016 and June 2018, respectively), and it is tolerated in many others, like in Madrid (without the need of a specific rule). It is less common on private or condominium pools, and a few have by-laws to ban it. Moreover, there are some surveys indicating that more than 40% of the Spanish women who were interviewed (aged 18 or older) reported to have been topless on a beach at least once.
Sweden In Sweden, toplessness is not explicitly illegal. The law usually applied to cases of nudity is about disorderly conduct ()Brottsbalk (1962:700) 16 kap 16§ – it does not say anything about how undressed one can be, so it is a matter of legal tradition, although there is a law against gender discrimination. However, private or public establishments are permitted to establish dress codes which may require women to wear tops, and deny access or remove individuals who breach these standards. In September 2007, the "Bara Bröst" group (a pun meaning both "Only Breasts" and "Bare Breasts") appeared to promote topless equality in these semi-public facilities. The group staged several events in public swim baths in September and October 2007, starting in Uppsala from which they were evicted several times, before succeeding in Sundsvall.Victory for topless bathers Article from The Local
The group scored a victory in June 2009 when the Malmö city's sports and recreation committee approved new rules that, while requiring everybody to wear bathing suits at indoor public swimming pools, did not require women to cover their breasts. "We don't define what bathing suits men should wear so it doesn't make much sense to do it for women. And besides, it's not unusual for men to have large breasts that resemble women's breasts", said a council spokesman.
United Kingdom According to the Crown Prosecution Service, "In the absence of any sexual context and in relation to nudity where the person has no intention to cause alarm or distress it will normally be appropriate to take no action unless members of the public were actually caused harassment, alarm or distress (as opposed to considering the likelihood of this)." Breastfeeding is a specifically protected activity.
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