Cara Park, who wore feather necklace to cover breasts at International Women's Day event, is criticised by unionists

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A Northern Ireland feminist has defended her decision to partially expose her breasts during an International Women's Day event at the Stormont assembly – an act that has prompted unionists to demand a parliamentary inquiry into the controversy.

The Derry women's rights activist Cara Park, whose breasts were hidden behind a feather necklace at the event, said she was highlighting the plight of women in other parts of the world who could be stoned to death for having their bodies exposed.

Park said: "I just thought: when am I ever going to get an opportunity to stand barefoot and bare-chested in Stormont, while other women elsewhere in the world would be stoned to death for that? I honestly can't understand how a nipple can be offensive."

She was attending an Alternative Ms Ulster beauty contest in the Great Hall of the Stormont parliament buildings at the weekend when the furore erupted over her outfit.

The 32-year-old refused to apologise to unionist assembly members who claimed her stunt was offensive. She said: "My nudity was a statement. It was a very considered thing. It was to do with my freedom to be a feminist and to express myself physically as a woman without being discriminated against.

"I think women should be allowed to be bare-chested. I don't think that other women have a problem with it. My breasts are my own, that's me in my natural state and I think I should be allowed to be in my natural state."

Jim Allister, the leader of the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice, called on the assembly's commission "to hold to account those who sponsored an event which permitted such unseemly behaviour".

Allister added: "I do not think Stormont should be the stage for such indecent exhibitionism."

The Democratic Unionist party junior minister in the devolved government, Jonathan Craig, described it as a "cheap publicity stunt".

His party colleague Tom Buchanan said: "This is just shameful and I think that these social events need to be more closely vetted by the organisers to ensure that this does not happen again."

Park is an Irish-language actor and performance artist and a contributor to a Gaelic-language programme on BBC Radio Ulster.

She was one of 25 women who made speeches on the rights and plight of women around the world at the event, which was organised by the Green party's sole assembly member in the devolved parliament, Steven Agnew.

Agnew said he defended Park's decision to go partially nude at the International Women's Day event.

He added: "I certainly don't find the female form offensive. There's exploitative pornography, that's one thing, but an empowered female choosing how she dresses is very much up to that woman."

The event was staged as a parody of a Miss Ulster traditional beauty contest held in the Stormont parliament last autumn.