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Brazil: Few women attend Rio topless ban protest | Brazil: Few women attend Rio topless ban protest |
(about 7 hours later) | |
A protest in Brazil against a decades-old ban on topless sunbathing has failed to attract more than a dozen women. | A protest in Brazil against a decades-old ban on topless sunbathing has failed to attract more than a dozen women. |
Instead, hundreds of photographers and men turned up for the event on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema beach. | Instead, hundreds of photographers and men turned up for the event on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema beach. |
More than 2,000 women had said they would take their tops off on the beach on Saturday morning to call for the law to be scrapped. | More than 2,000 women had said they would take their tops off on the beach on Saturday morning to call for the law to be scrapped. |
Organisers say most women probably felt too intimidated to join the protest. | Organisers say most women probably felt too intimidated to join the protest. |
Protesters say Brazilian legislation, which defines beach topless as an obscene act, is anachronistic and hypocritical. | Protesters say Brazilian legislation, which defines beach topless as an obscene act, is anachronistic and hypocritical. |
They argue that nudity is tolerated during the annual carnival parade in Rio. | They argue that nudity is tolerated during the annual carnival parade in Rio. |
"It's a false-Puritanism and indicative of our macho culture that we have a law forbidding that a woman can go topless," Olga Salon told the Associated Press news agency. | "It's a false-Puritanism and indicative of our macho culture that we have a law forbidding that a woman can go topless," Olga Salon told the Associated Press news agency. |
She was one of the few women who went ahead with the protest and took her top off before a crowd of photographers and male beach-goers. | She was one of the few women who went ahead with the protest and took her top off before a crowd of photographers and male beach-goers. |
The organiser, Ana Rios, said the idea was to raise awareness to the prejudice against women in Brazil. | The organiser, Ana Rios, said the idea was to raise awareness to the prejudice against women in Brazil. |
"It is a pity it became a media circus. What really amazes me is the number of men who came here just to see women's chests," she said. | "It is a pity it became a media circus. What really amazes me is the number of men who came here just to see women's chests," she said. |
The movement began after Brazilian actress Cristina Flores was approached by local policemen during a photo session. | |
She says they threatened to arrest her if she did not agree to put her top on. | She says they threatened to arrest her if she did not agree to put her top on. |
"I didn't even know it was illegal when I did it," she said. | "I didn't even know it was illegal when I did it," she said. |
A 1940s law says going topless on the beach is punishable with three months to a year in jail or a fine. | A 1940s law says going topless on the beach is punishable with three months to a year in jail or a fine. |
The harsh penalties are rarely enforced, but topless sunbathing is not tolerated on most Brazilian beaches. | The harsh penalties are rarely enforced, but topless sunbathing is not tolerated on most Brazilian beaches. |
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