Exporting Naked Protest Femen Opens First Office Abroad

Exporting Naked Protest

Femen Opens First Office Abroad

By Lorenz Eichhorn

REUTERS

Feminists from the Ukraine-based activist group Femen have opened their first training center abroad in Paris to teach like-minded protesters how to evade security forces. For the opening, the women ran half-naked through a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in the French capital.

The Ukranian women's group Femen, famous for its radical topless protests, opened its first foreign office with a bare-chested march through a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in Paris' 18th arrondissement on Tuesday. In the first foreign office, fellow feminists are supposed to learn how to evade security forces, according to the group's website.

Inna Shevchenko was present among the activist women. She fled to France over the summer after she showed support for the Russian Punk band Pussy Riot by taking a chainsaw to a large wooden crucifix in Kiev. On the streets of Paris, Shevchenko said that the feminists wanted to "go to war against patriarchy and dictatorship."

"We're opening the first international training center for feminists … who want to transform themselves into soldiers," Shevchenko added. Other centers are planned for Montreal, New York and Sao Paulo.