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Femen's Oksana Shachko: A Life In Protest

Oksana Shachko, 31, a Ukrainian founder of the international protest group Femen, has been found dead in Paris of an apparent suicide, according to the organization. (Photos have been edited.)

International suicide help lines can be found at Befrienders.org.
Shachko (right) staging a protest in Kyiv in 2012. A July 24 post on Femen's website said "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us."
1 Shachko (right) staging a protest in Kyiv in 2012. A July 24 post on Femen's website said "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us."
Shachko (right) and Femen co-founder Inna Shevchenko speak to journalists at a hospital in a small town near Minsk in 2011. The activists told reporters they were seized by police in Belarus, forced to strip, threatened with violence, and then abandoned naked in the woods.
2 Shachko (right) and Femen co-founder Inna Shevchenko speak to journalists at a hospital in a small town near Minsk in 2011. The activists told reporters they were seized by police in Belarus, forced to strip, threatened with violence, and then abandoned naked in the woods.
Shachko gestures to a photographer during a court session in Kyiv in 2013. 
3 Shachko gestures to a photographer during a court session in Kyiv in 2013. 
Shachko (left) during the 2013 court hearing. The Femen activists were reportedly kidnapped and beaten while on their way to protest a visit to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a frequent target.
4 Shachko (left) during the 2013 court hearing. The Femen activists were reportedly kidnapped and beaten while on their way to protest a visit to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a frequent target.
Shachko (left) and another Femen activist protest against sexism within Islam in Paris in 2012. 
5 Shachko (left) and another Femen activist protest against sexism within Islam in Paris in 2012. 
Shachko in front of Swedish football fans as she protests against prostitution during the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship in Kyiv. 
6 Shachko in front of Swedish football fans as she protests against prostitution during the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship in Kyiv. 
Security guards grapple with Shachko during the Euro 2012 protest. 
7 Security guards grapple with Shachko during the Euro 2012 protest. 
Shachko shows the injuries she suffered during the 2012 protest.
8 Shachko shows the injuries she suffered during the 2012 protest.
Police drag Shachko away from the polling station in Milan where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his vote in 2013.
9 Police drag Shachko away from the polling station in Milan where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his vote in 2013.
Shachko (second from left) and fellow activists plan a protest action in Moscow in 2012.
10 Shachko (second from left) and fellow activists plan a protest action in Moscow in 2012.
Shachko (center) rehearses with other Femen activists before a protest in Moscow in 2012. 
11 Shachko (center) rehearses with other Femen activists before a protest in Moscow in 2012. 
Policemen detain Shachko on the roof of a police wagon to transport detainees during a protest rally outside a court in Kyiv in 2011. Femen staged a protest against what they said was the targeting of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
12 Policemen detain Shachko on the roof of a police wagon to transport detainees during a protest rally outside a court in Kyiv in 2011. Femen staged a protest against what they said was the targeting of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Shachko paints a wall of her room in Kyiv in 2012. According to Reuters, Shachko studied iconography in the city of Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine.
13 Shachko paints a wall of her room in Kyiv in 2012. According to Reuters, Shachko studied iconography in the city of Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine.
Swiss policemen detain Shachko during a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2012. Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL amid the reports of her suicide, "As far as I know, she was concerned that everything was going badly in the world."
14 Swiss policemen detain Shachko during a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2012. Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL amid the reports of her suicide, "As far as I know, she was concerned that everything was going badly in the world."
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