- Title: Polish protesters go nude as abortion fight takes new form
- Date: 3rd November 2020
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (NOVEMBER 3, 2020) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ***WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY*** ***WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY*** VARIOUS OF ARTISTS ANIA BIELAWSKA AND LUKASZ STANEK WRITING SWEAR WORDS ON EACH OTHER WHILE NAKED OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN WARSAW TO PROTEST COURT RULING THAT BANNED MOST FORMS OF LEGAL ABORTION IN POLAND BIELAWSKA AND STANEK SURROUNDED BY POLICE OFFICERS, BIELAWSKA WITH TEXT WRITTEN ON HER CHEST READING (Polish): "FUCK YOU", BOTH TURNING TO WALK AWAY VARIOUS OF BIELAWSKA AND STANEK WALKING ALONG STREET
- Embargoed: 17th November 2020 17:45
- Keywords: Constitutional Tribunal Law and Justice Poland Women's Strike abortion law abortion protests abortion restrictions naked protest
- Location: WARSAW, POLAND
- City: WARSAW, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001D30LID5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT INCLUDES NUDITY AND PROFANITY
Two protesters stripped naked in front of Poland's Presidential Palace on Tuesday (November 3) covering their bodies in swear words as demonstrations against a court ruling banning most abortions took a new twist.
Last month the Constitutional Tribunal banned terminations due to foetal defects, ending one of the few legal grounds left for abortion.
The ensuing protests, which have mainly focused on abortion, have signalled a broader outpouring of anger against Poland's nationalist rulers, laying bare the divisions in between liberals and religious conservatives in the predominantly Catholic country.
Protesters and artists Ania Bielawska and Lukasz Stanek wrote swear words and insults on themselves in permanent marker before walking around the area in front of the palace surrounded by a crowd of photographers.
Jadwiga, an activist present at the scene said the protest, titled 'A Walk', was directly related to the fight for women's and human rights and for people to be treated with dignity.
The government's publications department had initially said the court's verdict would be enforced by Nov. 2, but it has not yet been published in its official gazette, meaning it has not entered into legal force.
(Production: Kacper Pempel, Anna Dabrowska, Lewis Macdonald) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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