Photo Gallery Naked Protest
Topless protesters with the women's rights group Femen caused a scene on April 8 when they confronted Vladimir Putin during a state visit to Germany. The Russian president appeared unperturbed by their actions, smiling and even giving two thumbs up to the bare-breasted activists, who accused him of being a dictator. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with open-mouthed surprise.
While Putin, Merkel and other officials were touring a trade fair on German-Russian business in Hanover, the women ran up to Putin screaming, bearing painted slogans on their naked upper bodies such as "fuck dictator." Putin did not appear to be particularly offended by the protest action.
"We could have shot him," said Klara Martens, a 22-year-old engineering student from Berlin who contacted Femen about starting a German chapter of the organization.
The women were covered and hauled off by bodyguards and security personnel. It was Femen's most sensational action on German soil thusfar, and it will not be the last -- the group has begun training a group of around 20 German activists.
The Ukrainians are sharing their strategies: how to scream as loudly as possible, how to stand so that your poster doesn't cover your breasts, how to put up a fight with security personnel for as long as possible (heavy legs, lots of wriggling).
The protest did not appear to dampen the mood, and Putin remained philosophical. "I don't see anything terrible about it," he said.
On April 12, only a few days after the protest in Hanover, Femen activists interupted a press conference in Paris by Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki.
By covering their naked bodies with slogans like "Naked War" and "Topless Jihad," the Femen activists hope to transform the naked female body from a sexual commodity to a weapon in the war for self-determination.
