UKRAINE: Topless activists from Femen group protest on balcony of Indian Cultural Centre over media reports that Indian Foreign Ministry has instructed visa officers to scrutinise applications of Eastern Europe applicants to stem prostitution in India

Record ID: 379975

  • Title: UKRAINE: Topless activists from Femen group protest on balcony of Indian Cultural Centre over media reports that Indian Foreign Ministry has instructed visa officers to scrutinise applications of Eastern Europe applicants to stem prostitution in India
  • Date: 19th January 2012
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 18, 2012) (REUTERS) FEMEN ACTIVISTS CLIMBING TO BALCONY OF INDIAN CULTURAL CENTRE IN KIEV PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES VARIOUS OF TOPLESS FEMEN ACTIVISTS HOLDING POSTERS READING IN ENGLISH, 'I'M NOT A PROSTITUTE' AND 'UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL', AND CHANTING IN UKRAINIAN 'UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL' (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) FEMEN ACTIVIST OLEKSANDRA SHEVCHENKO, SAYING: "Ukrainian women are not prostitutes, and we have always been saying this and have been fighting against this image. Shame on India, which is calling us "prostitutes", which is trying to insult us this way. Shame on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and our president who do not react at all to such an insult!" PANORAMA FROM A POSTER READING IN ENGLISH, "WE ARE NOT PROSTITUTES", TO FEMEN ACTIVISTS CHANTING IN RUSSIAN "GO TO HELL" (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) FEMEN ACTIVIST OLEKSANDRA SHEVCHENKO, SAYING: "We demand today an official apology from India. We want Indian, Delhi officials to apologise to women of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan." VARIOUS OF TOPLESS FEMEN ACTIVISTS HOLDING POSTERS, WAIVING INDIAN FLAG AND CHANTING IN RUSSIAN 'DELHI, CLOSE YOUR BROTHELS' POLICE WATCHING PROTEST TOPLESS FEMEN ACTIVIST HITTING THE DOOR WITH INDIAN FLAG VARIOUS OF POLICE ARRESTING PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA135BZ21H4OU67T0TM5WNYVDD9
  • Story Text: Topless Ukrainian feminist activists stormed the Indian Culural Centre in Kiev on Wednesday (January 18, 2012) to demand an apology from India for reported enhanced screening of visa applications from women in Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet republics.
    Media across the former Soviet Union, as well as in India have reported that the Indian foreign ministry made a request of its visa officers in those countries to re-screen the applications of women aged 15-40, because of an uptick in prostitution by Eastern European women in India.
    The protesters from Femen, a mainstay on the Ukrainian protest circuit, climbed a ladder to reach a balcony at the centre, before unfurling a banner that said "We are not prostitutes" and waving signs reading "I am not a prostitute" and "Ukraine is not a brothel".
    Femen activist Oleksandra Shevchenko said India and even the Ukrainian government should be ashamed for perpetuating such an unflattering image of Ukrainian women.
    "Ukrainian women are not prostitutes, and we have always been saying this and have been fighting against this image. Shame on India, which is calling us "prostitutes", which is trying to insult us this way. Shame on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and our president who do not react at all to such an insult," Shevchenko said.
    "We demand today an official apology from India. We want Indian, Delhi officials to apologise to women of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," Shevchenko added.
    One activist used an Indian flag on a flagpole to batter the door of the centre, shouting that she was not a prostitute, before she was pulled into a waiting police car. Three other activists were also detained by police.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register