Olexandra Shevchenko ( uk, Олександра Шевченко) is a member of the Ukrainian radical feminist protest group FEMEN, which regularly demonstrates topless against manifestations of

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...

, dictatorship, religion, and the sex industry.

Early life

Shevchenko was born and grew up in Khmelnytskyi (in Ukraine).

FEMEN

Anna Hutsol Anna HutsolAnna Hutsol uses the Russian version (for example on hePersonal blogon Echo of Moscow) of her first name (Анна), rather than the Ukrainian version (Ганна; ''Hanna'') and spells her name in English as 'Anna Hutsol' oher Faceb ...

formed FEMEN in Kyiv on 10 April 2008, with her two friends from their hometown of Khmelnytskyi, Olexandra Shevchenko and

Oksana Shachko Oksana Shachko ( uk, Оксана Шачко; 31 January 1987 – 23 July 2018) was a Ukrainian artist and activist. Along with Anna Hutsol and Alexandra Shevchenko, she was one of the founders of the radical feminist activist group Femen, which ...

. They initially protested about issues effecting women students, but rapidly moved on to demonstrating against the sexual exploitation of Ukrainian women. It was in late August 2009 that

became the first member of the group to bare her breasts during a protest, but it was not until 2010 that this approach became the usual tactic in FEMEN demonstrations, justified on the grounds that without the media attention generated by topless protests their message would not be heard. In 2011, international news agencies started to pay more attention to this unusual group of Feminist protesters, In late 2011, Shevchenko, along with

Inna Shevchenko Inna Shevchenko ( uk, Інна Шевченко) is a Ukrainian feminist activist and the leader of international women's movement FEMEN, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy, especially d ...

and Jenia Kraizman, took their protest onto the international stage. On 31 October 2011 they demonstrated dressed as French maids in Paris against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on 5 November 2011 they protested against Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, the following day they protested against the Pope outside St. Peters, and on 10 November protested against prostitution in Zurich. On 9 December 2011 Shevchenko was in Moscow demonstrating against Vladimir Putin outside

Christ the Saviour Cathedral The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, link ...

. In 2013, Shevchenko established a training facility for FEMEN Germany in Berlin. On 9 February 2013, Shevchenko protested against

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

- she had the words 'Stop Cutting my Pussy' written across her bare chest. On 6 March 2013, FEMEN activists (including Shevchenko) in cooperation with French writer

Galia Ackerman Galina Ackerman or usually Galia Ackerman () (born 1948) is a French-Russian writer, historian, journalist, translator, researcher at the University of Caen, specializing on Ukraine and Post-Soviet states. She was also a translator for slain Rus ...

released their first book called 'FEMEN' published by Calmann-Lévy in French. In August 2013, Shevchenko fled out of Ukraine.У колишньому офісі Femen відкрили книжкову крамницю ''In the former office Femen opened a bookstore''
Ukrayinska Pravda (23 October 2013)Активістки Femen втекли з України ''Femen activists fled from Ukraine''
Ukrayinska Pravda (31 August 2013)Femen закриє офіс в Україні, але діяльність не припинить ''Femen closes office in Ukraine, however, the activities do not stop''
Ukrayinska Pravda (27 August 2013)

Bibliography

*Ackerman, Galia, with Anna Hutsol, Oksana Shachko, Alexandra 'Sasha' Shevchenko, & Inna Shevchenko, ''FEMEN'', Published by Calmann-Lévy (Paris 2013), 280 pages. . (French language publication)

Filmography

* "Nos seins, nos armes!" (Our breasts, our weapons!), documentary film (1hour 10 mins), written and directed by Caroline Fourest and

Nadia El Fani Nadia El Fani ( ar, نادية الفاني; born 1960 in Paris), is a French-Tunisian film director, screenwriter and producer. She has primarily directed documentary films about human rights, women's rights, secularism, and criticism of religion. ...

, produced by Nilaya Productions, aired on France 2 on 5 March 2013. * "Everyday Rebellion", documentary film (1hour 58 mins), written and directed by the Riahi Brothers and , Austria / Switzerland / Germany, 2013, world premiere at

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival CPH:DOX is the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival established in 2003 and held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. CPH:DOX has since grown to become one of the largest ...

on 13 November 2013. * ''

Ukraine Is Not a Brothel ''Ukraine Is Not a Brothel'' is a 2013 Australian documentary film directed by Kitty Green. The film debuted at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, although it was not part of the competition. The documentary concerns the FEMEN (Фе� ...

References

External links