I am an Australian psychologist and social justice advocate who was tremendously moved/inspired by the life and work of Oksana Shachko. Oksana was a Ukrainian women who rose from a relatively small town and religious background to become an international voice for feminism and equal justice. She literally put her life on the line for what she believed in. Oksana was one of three women who founded FEMEN in 2008.
Oksana was also a gifted artist who began as a child prodigy painting religious icons. As she came to believe that organized religion is one of the bastions of patriarchy that keep women subjugated, she subverted traditional iconography into powerful feminist statements.
Oksana was ultimately exiled from Ukraine and found asylum in France where she tragically died in 2018 at the age of 31.
I want to buy and erect memorials for her (perhaps benches with plaques) in Khmelnytskyi (her home town), Kyiv, La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland, where she often visited) and Paris.
I do not want Oksana's legacy to be forgotten. It can be so empowering, especially for young women. We didn't create the patriarchy, but we can actively oppose it.
I am 75 years old and want to see these memorials in place before I die. Oksana must not be forgotten
Organizer
