Femen founder issues rallying cry for recruits as ‘sextremist’ organisation launches in UK

‘British women have joined our naked army’, says Ukrainian movement leader Inna Shevchenko

Ukrainian leader of feminist movement Femen Inna Shevchenko (AFP)

The “sextremist” organisation Femen has begun recruiting British women to sign up to its “naked army” in the UK.

Britain will become one of 11 countries with an active Femen base, as part of the ongoing expansion of the Ukrainian movement which boasts that it will “break the patriarchal system with our breasts”.

Writing a guest blog in the Huffington Post entitled “Why we’re launching Femen in the UK”, founder and leader Inna Shevchenko said the group only goes to places where “we’re called upon by women”.

“British women have joined our naked army, saying ‘we need Femen in the UK’,” Ms Shevchenko writes.

“Prostitution, laws about immigration, Islamic extremism in UK will not escape Femen's naked massacre now. Whether it's Derby's Al-madinah school or Buckingham Palace, Femen will always find the way to be where it's needed.”

She warned that the new branch of activists will be “extremely provocative”, and said: “Now, more British women will be trained and prepared as sextremists. The streets of London will be occupied by our naked bodies painted with our political demands and our colourful flower crowns. Feminism is coming back on the street. Suffragettes are replaced by Femen!”

Ms Shevchenko has been in London recently to promote a documentary made about the group’s activities, and she told The Observer that a particular issue of concern in the UK is female genital mutilation (FGM).

She said: “No one is talking about FGM in England. People assume it is too violent and extreme to exist here, that it only happens in Africa and the Middle East, but the UK has some of the highest levels in the west.”

Femen was founded in the Ukraine in 2008, initially as a national feminist group. It became an international movement when Ms Shevchenko was forced to “run away from dictatorial Ukraine”, she says.

It made international headlines when the mastermind behind the group was “outed” as being a man, Victor Svyatski.

Femen has predominantly made its name with high-profile topless protests against official bodies and individuals. In recent weeks they have infiltrated Paris Fashion Week and the Spanish Parliament, and wages war against a broad spectrum of “oppressive institutions such as the sex industry, dictatorship and religion”.