Their audacious topless stunts have earned them high-value exposure in the West - but with an approaching election at home in Ukraine, can the women's rights group Femen make a real difference?

The door to Femen headquarters is adorned with a large pair of sculpted breasts, painted in blue and yellow, the Ukrainian colours.

Despite complaining of police harassment and making plenty of enemies, they clearly have no intention of being discreet.

Inside the small, unfurnished basement flat near Kyiv's main square, four women, the eldest 25, sit in a line on a bench.

Oleksandra Shevchenko, the tallest, sets out the group's ideology.

"We're fighting against patriarchy, in its three manifestations: sexual exploitation of women, dictatorship and religion," she says.

Ms Shevchenko helped found the movement in 2008 in reaction to what they saw as the belittled status of women in post-Soviet Ukraine. The fate of too many, they believed, was to be trafficked into prostitution abroad, or touted as internet brides.

'We decide'

Feminist discussion groups at a university in western Ukraine soon turned to protests in Kyiv.

Femen did not go topless at first, but they insist stripping off has won them a wider audience for their message - without undermining it.

"For centuries, women's bodies and sexuality was used by men," says Ms Shevchenko.

"We understood we have to control our bodies and sexuality ourselves. We decide what to do with our body, our sexuality, our boobs - whether to hide it or show it."

But many Ukrainians are unimpressed by their antics. A common reaction, when they are mentioned, is to raise eyebrows or snort with derision.

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