UKRAINE: Ukrainian feminist group 'Femen' stages protest in central Kiev, saying Euro-2012 will make a 'Euro-bordello' of Ukraine

Record ID: 860387

  • Title: UKRAINE: Ukrainian feminist group 'Femen' stages protest in central Kiev, saying Euro-2012 will make a 'Euro-bordello' of Ukraine
  • Date: 13th May 2012
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (MAY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) EURO 2012 TROPHY DISPLAY ON INDEPENDENCE SQUARE
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • City:
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4450Z8N8JVR5TJZDA8C4ZRFPG
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Ukraine's topless protest group, Femen, opened its campaign against the European soccer championships on Saturday (May 12) when one of its activists stripped to the waist next to the European cup which is on public display in the centre of the capital, Kiev.
    The young woman, 23-year-old Yulia Kovpachik, strode up to the trophy, which is on display as a tourist attraction, ostensibly to be photographed alongside it like hundreds of other sight-seers.
    But she then pulled down her red T-shirt to reveal the words "Fuck Euro 2012" scrawled on her chest and attempted to grab the trophy. She was instantly seized by security guards, who clearly had advanced warning of the protest. The guards covered her with a sheet and took her off to a waiting police car.
    The Femen women's rights group regularly stages bare-breast protests in Ukraine - and sometimes outside the country - to highlight what they see as political injustice, social abuse and the exploitation of women in Ukraine.
    Sex tourists and visiting foreign businessmen who feed the former Soviet republic's sex industry are its main targets.
    Ukraine is co-hosting the Euro-2012 soccer tournament with Poland throughout June with the final being played in Kiev on July 1.
    Euro-2012 organisers, who are conscious of Ukraine's growing reputation as a new destination for sex tourism, say they are taking steps to curb prostitution during the month-long tournament which they expect to be attended by about one million foreign tourists.
    After Kovpachik's protest, Femen activist Oleksandra Shevchenko spoke to reporters.
    "We came here today so as not to allow this Euro fan low-life make a bordello out of Ukraine. Today the symbol of this bordello are these cups which people are photographing while hoping for a better future for Ukraine. During Euro 2012, Ukraine will become a Euro-bordello. Ukraine will not get into the European Union. Ukraine will not develop during Euro-2012. The only thing that will develop in Euro-2012 is the sex industry in Ukraine," Shevchenko said.
    City authorities have mounted the trophy in a temporary display area on Kiev's Independence Square and hundreds of sight-seers were queuing up under blazing sun on Saturday to be photographed alongside it.
    Independence Square itself will be the centre of a huge 'fan-zone' during Euro-2012 capable of holding tens of thousands of football supporters.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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