Bouton v France  [2022] ECHR 820 [in French] is about the conviction of a feminist activist for a topless protest in a church.

Background

Ms Éloïse Bouton was a member of Femen, an international organisation for the defence of women’s rights created in Ukraine in 2008. On 20 December 2013, she mounted a demonstration in the Madeleine church in Paris against the Roman Catholic Church’s position on abortion: it should be noted that there was no service taking place at the time when she made her protest: the choir was rehearsing. Continue reading →