You’re excused if you haven’t heard about the recent Femen arrests. Not many people have. It’s out there, but you’ve got to search for it.

Femen is a Ukraine-based collective of radical feminist activists with members in dozens of countries, including Canada. A couple years ago, they mostly protested in support of gay rights and against Christian churches. They used to protest in their underwear, but now go topless because it garners major press (yes gents, it’s all online). They’re kind of a high-octane version of the Greenpeace lettuce babes.

Last Wednesday, three European Femen women were arrested in Tunisia for protesting topless in support of Amina Tyler. Activist Tyler, 19, was first detained mid-May. The accusations against her are a dragnet of ambiguity, seemingly designed to deter future protesters. She’s currently facing a simple $185 fine for carrying pepper spray — but she’s being held as authorities ponder further charges.

Tyler first received attention for posting topless pictures of herself on Facebook with “my body is my own and not your honor” written on it. She went into hiding after receiving threats. A prominent imam called for death by stoning. She resurfaced the other week to spray-paint “Femen” on part of a religious centre. She is facing up to two years in prison.

Now here’s another story that received way more publicity: The arrest and imprisonment of members of the punk rock collective Pussy Riot. They’re a radical feminist collective using creative means to agitate for their causes — near identical to Femen. In February 2012 they staged a musical protest in a Moscow cathedral, which they put online. A few weeks later, they were arrested and charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred (a totally nonsense charge). They were held in custody for a few months until a July trial, at which they were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Again, near identical to the Amina case.

Yet there’s been a strange disconnect in the coverage. Last summer, the Pussy Riot prisoners were plastered on the front of papers. Celebrities in the West rallied behind them. Political commentators weighed in on how bad this was for Putin and Russia. The girls were labelled prisoners of conscience. Stodgy middle-aged male politicos jumped at the opportunity to win a bit of feminist street cred and joined the fray. Even now, western papers cover one of the women’s prison hunger strike.

So why the crickets on Amina’s front? Apparently the story lacks the secret sauce of a viral social justice cause. The stories are identical. But wait. That “religious centre” Amina defaced? Maybe it’s time to explain it was part of a mosque. The cause Femen has now turned to? Denouncing Muslim patriarchy.

Uh-oh. How are the western far-left feminists going to square that circle? It’s no surprise that if you’re on the far-left, you’re not allowed to criticize anything to do with Islam because, uh, mumble mumble, George W. Bush, war on terror …

We all know by now political correctness is morally bankrupt — but it’s always a shocker to be reminded just how low it can go.

On Saturday, Canadian woman Xenia Chernyshova stormed the stage, topless, at a Montreal speech given by former Tunisian prime minister and Muslim conservative Hamadi Jebali. Men assaulted her as she cried “Free Amina.” So it’s even happening right here in Canada. Yet you’d hardly know it. Sparse media coverage. No outrage from the usual suspects. The silence is deafening.