Femen

For the characters in the fictional Dune universe, see Fremen.

FEMEN
Фемен
Founded10 April 2008; 16 years ago (2008-04-10)[1]
TypeProtest and activist group
FocusAbolish patriarchy to achieve women's liberation[2]
Location
Key people
Anna Hutsol[1]
Oksana Shachko
Alexandra Shevchenko[5]
Inna Shevchenko
Yana Zhdanova
Websitefemen.org

Femen (stylized in all caps; Russian and Ukrainian: Фемен, Belarusian: Фэмэн) is a Ukrainian radical feminist activist group whose goal is to protect women's rights. The organization became internationally known for organizing controversial[6][7] topless protests against sex tourism,[1][6] religious institutions,[8] sexism, homophobia,[9] and other social, national, and international topics. Founded in Ukraine, the group is now based in France. Femen describes its ideology as being "sextremism, atheism and feminism".[10]

The organization describes itself as "fighting patriarchy in its three manifestations – sexual exploitation of women, dictatorship and religion"[11] and has stated that its goal is "sextremism serving to protect women's rights".[12] Femen activists have been regularly detained by police in response to their protests.[11]

  1. ^ a b c "Femen wants to move from public exposure to political power". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference offisite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Eichhorn, Lorenz (19 September 2012). "Naked March in Paris to Open New Office of Femen Feminist Group – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference IP29713NH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "FEMEN". FEMEN. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Ukraine's Ladies of Femen". Movements.org. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  7. ^ Tayler, Jeffrey (13 March 2013). "The Woman Behind Femen's Topless Protest Movement". The Atlantic. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBCobservOct12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Topless FEMEN Protesters Drench Belgian Archbishop André-Jozef Léonard, Protest Homophobia in Catholic Church (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  10. ^ Reestorff, Camilla Møhring (2018). The Routledge companion to media and activism. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781138202030. The activist movement Femen is notorious for topless protests and the ideology 'sextremism, atheism and feminism'.
  11. ^ a b "Femen activists jailed in Tunisia for topless protest". BBC News. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ^ Holman, Zoe (19 October 2013). "Fearless … and topless: Femen activists to bring 'sextremism' to the UK". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 26 June 2023.