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Canada  

Bare breast protest

Dozens of people are expected to show up to a demonstration in Waterloo, Ont. Saturday in support of three women who were stopped by police for going topless.

Alysha Mohamed and her two sisters, Tameera and Nadia, were on an evening bike ride in the downtown area of Kitchener-Waterloo on Friday when they were pulled over by a police officer.

The women had removed their tops because of the heat when an officer stopped them.

Mohamed, a Juno-nominated singer who is better known by her stage name Alysha Brilla, said the sisters had spoken to several people while on their bike ride, including a female police officer, and no one had complained.

But towards at approximately 9 p.m., Brilla said they were stopped by a male officer who told them to put their shirts back on.

"We passed by a cop in an SUV and he immediately makes a U-turn after seeing us from the front," she told CTV Kitchener over the weekend.

"He says, 'Ladies, you're going to need to put shirts on.'"

As the sisters began to argue with the officer, Brilla pulled out her cellphone and recorded the interaction. She said the conversation changed when she began recording.

"What are you stopping us for?" she can be heard asking.

The officer asked her whether she had lights on her bike.

Brilla said they told him they had a legal right to be topless, and shouldn't have been stopped at all. Women have had the legal right to expose their breasts in Ontario since 1991, when Guelph, Ont. student Gwen Jacobs was arrested for walking home from class while topless.

Jacobs was charged with committing an indecent act, but fought the charge and won.

Brilla said she and her sisters went to a police station to file a complaint because Brilla said they never should have been pulled over in the first place even though they were not arrested.

She said at the end of the conversation, her objective was just to ensure that the police officer was aware that women are allowed to be topless.

Waterloo Regional Police Staff Sgt. Mike Haffner told CTVNews.ca there are conflicting reports about what happened that night. The department is looking into the officer's conduct.

In addition to the possible complaint, the sisters are planning a pro-topless rally at Waterloo Town Square on Saturday.

"Women are still not truly free to be topless in public, without facing harassment from passersby and in some cases, uninformed police officers," a message on the event Facebook page said.



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