Two activists from the feminist group Femen staged a topless protest against the leader of Spain's right-of-centre Ciudadanos party, Albert Rivera, this Saturday afternoon, at a party event in Malaga. The two women burst into the party rally to confront Rivera just as he was entering, and stood beside him chanting "my body is not for sale, my belly is not for rent".
The activists, naked from the waist up as is usual at Femen protest actions, were demonstrating against the policy on surrogate motherhood proposed by the Cs party. Albert Rivera ignored the demonstrators and the party faithful reacted with shouts of "president" and jeers against the two women.
On several occasions, Rivera has urged the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez to introduce legislation regulating surrogate motherhood in Spain, where it is illegal. Ciudadanos say this would give the LGTBI collective an opportunity to form a family. However, for the feminist group, renting out women's organs is "exploitation of women".
FEMEN CONTRA ALBERT RIVERA.
— They MANURE Spain- España (@FemenSpain) 8 of September 2018
Y su política a favor de los vientres de alquiler.
La explotación no es una opción. #MIVIENTRENOSEALQUILA https://t.co/WhlbejQgm5
Translation: FEMEN against Albert Rivera. And his policy in favour of renting out wombs. Exploitation is not an option. #MyWombIsNotForRent - FEMEN España
Femen is a feminist group of Ukrainian origin that carries out protest actions, usually carried out by activists who appear topless with messages written on their torsos, against issues of sexism all over the world. The militancy and impact of the group's actions has helped it grow quickly and spread across Europe.