Femen activists bare breasts in Swedish mosque

Posted on 11 July 2013.

Members of the protest group Femen bared their breasts once more, on this occasion in a mosque in Stockholm. Three members of the Ukraine-based group, who bare their breasts in public places in various locations for a range of issues, peeled off their tops and shouted slogans such as “no Sharia, no oppression” and “free women” as police escorted them off at the weekend.

The three women entered the mosque on Saturday wearing burkas. Once inside, they stripped off their garments and bared their chests.

On one woman’s body was the slogan “No Sharia in Egypt” in what appeared to reference current protests in Egypt about fundamentalist Sharia law, which prohibits females from publicly exposing their hair. On another protester’s body was written “My body is mine not somebody’s honour”.

At the time of the protest the mosque was empty except for a few employees and reporters who’d been informed of the group’s intentions in advance. The staff, who said they were pushed by the protesters, quickly contacted to police, who arrived and arrested the women on charges of disorderly conduct and abuse.

Last week, four Femen members peeled off their shirts in the Belgian capital, Brussels, and climbed on top of a car that Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh, who was visiting the city, had been travelling in.

They were protesting about four of the group’s members being jailed in the Tunisian capital, Tunis. Three of the women have since been handed four-month prison terms. Security officers pulled them off the car, but they were able to flee and evade arrest.

Femen members have carried out similar demonstrations in other countries including France and Germany.