A group of young female activists staged a topless protest in the living room department of a Hamburg Ikea on Wednesday evening, in a stand against the company's use of “discriminatory advertising.”
The three women, aged 32, 23 and 22, entered the furniture store fully clothed. In the toilets, they removed their tops and painted German flags over their breasts and daubed feminist messages across their torsos, before taking to the shop floor.
Staff and shoppers at the Hamburg branch watched for ten minutes before security ushered the protesters out, the Bild daily reported.
Taking a stand against Ikea cutting women out of its Saudi Arabian catalogue, the trio belonged to the German branch of feminist movement Femen.
“We painted our breasts in Germany's colors because we are protesting for women,” graphic designer Irina, 32, told the paper. “Our bodies are painted like posters, but they cannot be ripped up,” she added.
“We painted our breasts in Germany's colors because we are protesting for women,” graphic designer Irina, 32, told the paper. “Our bodies are painted like posters, but they cannot be ripped up,” she added.
“You can remove us from the catalog but you cannot remove us from reality,” said a placards. “Allah made me visible,” said another.
Femen began in Ukraine, where women have regularly staged nude protests against repression and violence.
"Islamist dollars are more important than human principles of liberty and equality for Ikea," said a statement on the Femen website. It added that activists were calling for the world community to boycott the company's products.
