( CNN ) -- `` My body belongs to me and is not the source of anyone 's honor . '' The words of Tunisian activist Amina Ahmed , scrawled across her naked chest in Arabic and posted on Femen 's Facebook page are true , and right . Women should have the choice to dress how they want , when they want , without fear of reprisal and safe from harm . As too many women in all corners of the can attest , this is not the reality . From war to politics to art , shock tactics can be useful , powerful tools . They force the opposed to take notice , to hopefully retreat , to surrender their advantage . In the arena of human and women 's rights , they are a staple -- from the burning of draft cards during the anti-Vietnam war protests of the 1960s to bra burning ( myth or no ) to Mohamed Bouazizi , the street vendor who set himself on fire and inadvertently roused the Tunisian Revolution -- shock tactics can , and do work . They work across cultures too : I first learned of the Women 's War which took place in eastern Nigeria in 1929 ( an anti-taxation and anti-colonialist protest which ended with reports of up to 100 Igbo casualties ) , when I was at school in Lagos . I learned that some of these women stripped naked to make their case -- an admirably thought out and executed case of naked protest , in a non-Western culture , from more than 80 years ago . It was effective , too -- administrative reforms were carried out , bringing an end to the Warrant Chief system ( introduced by British colonialists ) and women were appointed in local courts . So my issue with Femen , and any other such organizations , is less to do with the mode of protest , and more the gaze and rhetoric behind it . Femen purports to know , in an almost patriarchal way , what is `` best '' for these poor , oppressed women in Africa and the Middle East . Their problem is religion , and their naked protest is there to `` help '' free them from the `` tyranny '' therein . Yes -- there are huge chasms between the rights of men and women all over the world , and perhaps more visibly in these communities . But there are also women ( and men ) in those communities working to remedy this , using different tools , ( some more blunt than others ) and in all likelihood just as effective or even I would argue , more so , than Femen 's methods . Read more : Why topless protesters will hound Islamic leaders . I am Nigerian-British and a Muslim , now living in the geographical West . I know that my experiences do not match that of a woman my age in a small town in Mali , or Pakistan . I do n't wear a hijab ; never have done , unlikely ever to . I do n't care one way or another about the hijab , but I do care about choice . In electing not to wear a headscarf , I have exercised that right , and not all of the women who wear scarves have the luxury of that choice . But there are also millions of women who choose , very happily and deliberately , to wear the hijab . Is it `` liberating '' to ban the hijab for these women ? Femen 's intent may be honorable , but the implementation seems wrong-headed to me . A lot of us in brown and black bodies have become used to the neo-colonial lens through which the rest of the world views us . We are there to be `` helped '' , to be `` liberated '' . There exists a powerful and deliberate narrative around Africa and the Middle East : `` we must go there and free them ! '' If you are only viewing people as hapless , helpless children -- which is how I see a lot of Femen 's rhetoric as applied to Africa and the Middle East -- you rob them of agency . It is not up to Femen to go and `` free '' these women . We can not export tactics that simply do n't work , in the name of sisterhood . Read more : Topless feminist protesters show what they 're made of . What kind of sisterhood insists that an attitude of `` this works here and will therefore work over there '' is the way forward ? Is there no nuance to be found , if the objective is to free women of the patriarchy that governs their lives ? It is naive and somewhat foolish at best , and at worst dangerous and stupid . It is looking at a health problem and deciding that their prescription is the only drug that will clear up the rash , when locally sourced medicines may work just as well , if not better . At the very least , work with organizations already at the coalface day after day , collaborate with and listen to them . If the aim is genuinely to make a fairer society , not to merely impose benevolent condescension , it 's a necessary step . The Femen message , with a core belief in self-determination and equality , unshackled from damaging patriarchy , is good and true . But their methods leave much to be desired . The opinions expressed in this commentary are soley those of Bim Adewunmi .
Femen activists have used topless protest in a campaign against patriarchy . The group has been protesting the lack of equality for women and girls since its founding last year. But she says treating women as `` helpless '' and `` hapless '' robs them of agency . It is not up to Femen to `` free '' the women of the Middle East and Africa , Adewunmi says .