Hundreds of women joined the topless rally to create bare-breast awareness in Waterloo, Ontario.
The rally was organized by three sisters who were stopped by a police officer for cycling topless in the town of Kitchener last month. The officer told them that their actions are illegal and they need to cover up.
The event titled as “Bare with us” took place in Waterloo Town Square with an aim to educate the public about women’s right and the march attracted hundreds of men and women. The protesters carried banners and placards with messages including “They are boobs not bombs, chill out” and “Nudity isn’t sexual.”
The organizers magnetized the people to join the protest in solidarity to support women’s right to be topless in public and to show support for desexualizing women’s breasts.
The three sisters, Tameera, Nadia and Alysha Mohamed said that they were not wearing their shirts while biking late in the evening down a quiet street in Kitchener because it was a hot summer day. Alysha Mohamed, a singer who goes by the stage name Alysha Brilla, told the officer he was wrong and she started filming the interaction on her mobile phone.
The trio sisters have filed a formal complaint with the Waterloo Regional Police. They also demanded an apology from the alleged police officer who told them to cover up. Women in Ontario have the legal right to go topless in public since 1996, after the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned a woman’s conviction for walking shirtless in a public place.
In June, a similar incident sparked similar uproar when 8-year-old Marlee McLean was told by city staff in Guelph to cover up while she was in a pool wearing only a swim bottom. IMAGE/cbc.ca
