ROME - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy has said he is laughing off his latest sex scandal, in which prosecutors are investigating whether he compensated a number of attractive young women, including a 17-year-old nicknamed “Ruby Heart-Stealer,” for sex.
But as this seemingly intractable scandal unfolds, filling media with images of scores of young women in his orbit, Mr. Berlusconi finds for the first time in his long career that a growing number of Italians are not laughing along: women.
Female discontent is increasingly pushing up against Italy’s traditionally byzantine, male-dominated politics.
About 73,500 people signed a petition on the Web site of the left-wing newspaper L’Unità asking Italian women to say “enough already” to Mr. Berlusconi. A demonstration in Milan on Saturday drew thousands of protesters, and a nationwide protest promoted by women is scheduled for Feb. 13.
“Another Italy exists,” proclaimed Emma Marcegaglia - the first woman to lead Confindustria, an association of major industries, and one of only a handful of Italian women with any significant political clout - in a widely noticed television interview last month.
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The New York Times has the entire article.
I came across this today and thought it was interesting. The article has also information about women in Italy and how their experiences differ from other women elsewhere in the EU.