Femen co-founder Oksana Shachko found dead in Paris flat
Oksana Shachko, one of the founders of the Femen feminist protest movement, has been found dead in her Paris apartment, the group has said.
The 31-year-old Ukrainian was found on Monday with a suicide note next to her body, according to Femen activists.
“It is with great regret and deep pain that I must confirm the death of Oksana,” said Inna Shevchenko, one of Femen’s leaders, who also lives in the French capital.
Another Femen founder, Anna Gutsol, wrote on Facebook: “RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends.” She said the group was awaiting “the official version from the police”.
Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008. Exiled in France since 2013, she had since left the group and was working as an artist.
Operating under the slogan “I came, I stripped, I won”, Femen quickly drew attention around the world with its bare-breasted demonstrations against sexism.
Their protests also challenged authoritarianism and racism, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, a particular target, along with France’s far-right Front National party.
But in recent years the group has struggled with internal divisions as well as legal proceedings against its members.
In 2011, Femen said Shachko was among three members “kidnapped” by security agents and forced to strip naked in a forest after staging a topless protest mocking the Belarussian president, Alexander Lukashenko. The agents poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair, Femen said.
Shachko was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, according to the group. A lawyer for said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.