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Femen ladies in leather skirts protest at Vatican - boobs and all

November 14, 2014

Bare-chested and wearing leather skirts, members of a women's rights activist group gathered at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Friday to … ehm protest. Femen style.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Dnsa
Femen Aktivistinnen Protest in Vatikan 14.11.2014
Image: AFP/Getty Images/A. Pizzoli

Three members of the group showed up wearing nothing but leather mini-skirts, flowers in their hair and lettering on their bare chests to protest an upcoming visit by Pope Francis to the European Parliament.

Police quickly intervened as the women got down on all fours and feigned intercourse with crucifixes.

Femen Aktivistinnen Protest in Vatikan 14.11.2014
Image: AFP/Getty Images/A. Pizzoli

According to a statement on the group's website, the Femen protest was against the "One woman bore the words "The Pope is not a politician" on her bosom.

Pope Francis will visit the European Parliament on November 25 in Strasbourg, where he intends to speak with delegates.

Femen Aktivistinnen protestieren gegen Papst im Vatikan 14.11. 2014
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Femen's aim

Femen is a radical feminist protest group founded in Ukraine in 2008. Its members have staged numerous protests across a number of different nations, drawing attention to their movement primarily by going top-less.

According to the group's website, "We live in the world of male economic, cultural and ideological occupation. In this world, a woman is a slave, she is stripped of the right to any property but above all she is stripped of ownership of her own body."

sb/kms (AFP, dpa, KNA)