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Posts Tagged ‘Femen’

Femen’s blog accuses India of insulting the women of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. “Indian prostitution is directly conducted with impunity of the country’s criminal business. Blaming it on women is a shame for the heirs of such a rich and old culture,” it says.

Femen, founded in 2008 by Anna Hutsol, comprises some two dozen members who go topless during protests. There are 300 other members, including men, who join these protests without stripping.

Most Femen members are university students in the 18-20 age group. Some topless protests have been in European cities, including the Vatican. In 2010, one Femen protester exposed her buttocks outside a locked toilet in Kiev to protest the lack of public toilets in the Ukranian capital.

Last December, three Femen activists protesting in Minsk against Belarus’ long-ruling President were allegedly kidnapped by secret service officers. The women later claimed the officers threatened them with knives, cut their hair and left them naked in the woods. On January 16, Ukraine’s ministry of justice refused to register Femen as an official political movement, claiming its position was extremist.

For the Indian mission, today’s topless protest at the ambassador’s residence came as a surprise because a statement denying the report had already been issued.

The mission had clarified a couple of days back that “no discrimination” was being practised against Ukrainian women applying for visas to travel to India. “The number of tourist visas issued by our mission in Kiev to Ukrainians has gone up in the last few months. This is evidence that we have not practised any such discrimination,” said an MEA official.

While the MEA has been trying hard to scotch the rumours, there is truth to the influx of sex workers from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan.

Sources in Delhi police said more than 3,000 women from these countries were staying in the capital to work as sex workers. “These girls are in demand,” an officer said.