OFF THE WIRE
Fear not, everyone — there will be naked women protesting in the streets for years to come. Ukrainian feminist group Femen, known for its topless protests, including flashing boobs at Euro 2012 and attacking the soccer trophy, has opened its first international training camp in Paris, and its members say they're not going anywhere. The group's other past stunts include entering a pig pen during the 2012 Olympics, chain sawing a wooden cross in support of Pussy Riot, and marching nude through Muslim neighborhoods for their "Better naked than the burqa" campaign. "We are taking off our clothes so people can see that we have no weapons except our bodies," said Inna Shevchenko. No weapons — just guts of steel.
How many topless Ukrainian activists does it take to unravel a
showing of the 2012 Euro soccer trophy? Just this one. Twenty-three-year-old
Yulia Kovpachik strolled up to the shining silver cup, which was on display in
Kiev, struck a provocative pose, then tore her strapless top off her torso.
Kovpachik, whose bare chest and stomach read "F*ck Euro 2012," is an activist
for Femen, a women's rights group that's protesting next month's soccer
tournament because they say it promotes the sex-tourism trade. After Kovpachik
was hauled away by security and charged with righteous-sounding "hooliganism,"
fellow Femen-ist Olexandra Shevchenko said,
"We came here today to stop this Euro fan lowlife from making a bordello out of
Ukraine."