At Kiev’s Olympic Stadium, a topless demonstration was staged by Ukrainian women’s rights activists in protest against what they claim are efforts to legalize prostitution during the 2012 European Championship.
Chanting slogans and holding banners that criticized UEFA, five members of the FEMEN group demonstrated their dissent.
According to FEMEN spokeswoman Inna Shevchenko, UEFA is ‘trying to influence our government’ to permit prostitution during the tournament scheduled from June 8 to July 1.
Upon the arrival of Kiev police at the stadium’s gates, the women were taken into custody and transported away in a police vehicle.
FEMEN has garnered an international reputation for holding semi-naked protests both in Ukraine and internationally.
Previously, the group has protested by exposing themselves in front of celebrities like Paris Hilton and at the Miss Ukraine beauty contest, believing that the beauty industry equates to a form of prostitution.
Additionally, topless FEMEN activists were arrested during the stadium’s opening ceremony in October after they stormed the pitch as part of their protest.
by John Jackson
