'Censor this!' Bare-breasted protesters demonstrate for the right to go topless on the beaches in Argentina after police forced sunbathers to cover up 

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• Dozens of women protested at Buenos Aires' famous Obelisk monument
• They were objected to police expelling topless women sunbathers from a beach 
• The trio were approached by officers at the Necochea resort in Buenos Aires
• They say they were threatened with arrest after being surrounded
• A number of tourists were offended by 'exhibitionism' and called authorities
• The women said they had as much right as a man to go topless on the beach 

Bare-breasted demonstrators have taken to the streets of Argentina in protest over a recent incident in which police expelled topless women sunbathers from a beach
 under threat of arrest.

Dozens of women and some male supporters protested at Buenos Aires' famous Obelisk monument and in other Argentine cities on Tuesday.

The protest was held under the slogan: 'Our breasts should not be censored!' 

Some of the protesters had their chests painted with slogans such as 'Censor this' 
and 'We are not going to ask you for permission.'  

 
Bare-breasted demonstrators have taken to the streets of Argentina in protest after police
 expelled topless women sunbathers from a beach.


 
Some of the protesters had their chests painted with slogans, including this woman whose
 message reads 'my body, my choice' in Spanish.

 

The protest was held under the slogan: 'Our breasts should not be censored!'

They were objecting to the idea that police and society could dictate 

what women can do with their bodies. 

Protester Daiana Asquini said 'we women have the right to the free use of our bodies.'

The three women who defied a topless ban on a popular holiday beach were surrounded by twenty police officers last month. 

The trio refused to put on their bikini tops when approached by officers at Necochea, the Atlantic coastal resort in Buenos Aires. One even whipped her top off when being warned about their behaviour.

The women say the police called to the scene threatened to arrest them during a heated discussion on the sand watched by bewildered sunbathers. 

One demonstrator had 'Soy Libre' painted on her back - meaning 'I am free' in Spanish.

The protesters were objecting to the idea that police and society could dictate what women 

can do with their bodies

Dozens of women protested at Buenos Aires' famous Obelisk monument

The three friends eventually agreed to leave but only after police called in reinforcements over 

fears that the argument could escalate.

Although going topless in Spain has been accepted for years, it still raises eyebrows in Argentina

 and is not the norm.

The three women took off their tops on the popular beach but a number of other tourists were 

said to have been offended by the 'exhibitionism' and called in the police. 

Police were called to the beach following complaints about three topless women.

The women say the police called to the scene threatened to arrest them during a heated
 discussion on the sand watched by bewildered sunbathers.

 

A large crowd gathered to watch the spectacle unfold at Necochea, the Atlantic coastal 

resort in Buenos Aires.

The trio alleged they were being picked upon and said they had as much right as a man to go topless.

The row eventually involved other beach users, some of whom agreed with their stance, others who objected. At one stage, about 20 police officers in six patrol cars arrived.

'At one stage, the discussion became very heated,' one onlooker told the Spanish press. 'A police officer apparently told them to put their breasts away as people were fed up seeing them. They were also told

 to go away and find a proper nudist beach.'

 

Officers called reinforcements after the row about going topless on the beach escalated.

An officer remonstrates with the women in a dispute after police were called by baffled

 sunbathers.

Witnesses said around 20 officers were called to the scene and the women said they were

 threatened with arrest.

Protests are planned in various parts of Argentina, including on the beach itself

The women only agreed to move away after the police said they would put them in handcuffs.

The angry scenes were caught on video by numerous tourists and has reopened the debate about topless sunbathing in the south of Argentina. The footage has been posted on YouTube and has already gone viral. 

The women have found one major supporter in the form of the Mayor of Necochea, Facundo Lopez. He said telling the trio to cover up was 'a violation' but 'what happened afterwards could not be justified' as it was not worthy of a row.

'The law is obsolete, I am ready to modernise it. Just look at the comments in the networks to note that

 there is still a long way to go to eliminate machismo in Argentina.'

A second protest march is due to be held on February 11th.