Italian women's tolerance for Berlusconi's sexcapades finally runs out

Sydney, Feb 19 (ANI): According to Sophie Arie of The Guardian, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's latest scandal involving an underage prostitute was the last straw - women are finally fed up of the man.

"Things had got so bad. We could feel how annoyed, how indignant, people were. But there had never been a national day organised by women in Italy," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Valeria Fedeli as saying.

Fedeli joined two film directors, a female politician from the left and one from the right, a nun who works with trafficked women, and a right-wing newspaper editor to put out a call to action via the Internet.

"We realised we had touched something deep. People were just waiting for someone to lead them."

His alleged racket of having paid an underage prostitute Karima el-Mahroug (also known as Ruby Rubacuori) was the tipping point. The incident culminated this week in Berlusconi being sent for trial.

The investigation also revealed that these pretty women who were willing to have sex with powerful men could make millions and land jobs in positions of authority while most hard-working women were struggling to make ends meet.

In the past, women were the hard core of Berlusconi voters.

"He was a seductive leader," said Flavia Perina, the editor of the Secolo d'Italia, the official newspaper of the right-wing Futuro e Liberta party.

"But now people have understood that the gallantry was hollow. He has said too many things against women."

"What seems to have made this work is the very fact that this was not a political protest. It was about defending the dignity of women," Fedeli said.

People in media have also attempted to reveal this lifestyle of Berlusconi's.

Lorella Zanardo' documentary 'Il Corpo delle Donne', shocked people. Perina's newspaper campaigned against the promotion of a TV show girl to become an MP until the plan was withdrawn.

However, all these attempts were washed down by Berlusconi's media or dismissed as the rantings of a leftist elite. (ANI)