­Topless at the Louvre: FEMEN activists stage anti-rape protest

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Published time: October 03, 2012 12:09
Edited time: October 03, 2012 16:09

Members of the FEMEN group have bared themselves again, this time at Paris’s Louvre. A group of girls protested against rape by standing topless in front of the Venus de Milo statue.

The FEMEN activists shouted, “We are here to stop rape”, saying they chose the Venus de Milo as the sculpture with no arms best symbolizes a woman’s helplessness and vulnerability.

“Today we choose the Louvre, the museum and the statue of Venus de Milo that is symbol of a woman but without hands. We came to show that we have hands to stop rape and we will fight for that,” activist Inna Shevchenko said after the demonstration.

Wednesday’s protest followed an incident in Tunisia where a woman claimed she was raped by police officers. The woman may now face charges of indecency.

“As long as you’re a woman, you’re a potential rape victim,” Reuters quotes the protesters. “And the suggestion that happened with a girl in Tunisia, who was raped by two policemen and after was judged because of her moral position, it's crazy and it shows the reality of the world. It shows that every day we are in danger of becoming the victim of a rapist.”

The case of the woman has created massive interest in France. The woman's supporters believe the charges against her are an effort to press her to drop her accusations against the police.

The FEMEN group has recently opened a new headquarter in Paris, with plans to open offices in New York, Montreal and Sao Paulo.

The organization was founded in Ukraine in 2008 and became famous for its bare-chested protests to attract attention to women’s rights. In Paris the group has already started recruiting international members, some of whom took part in the Louvre Museum protest.