Rome: Thousands of women took to the streets
of Italian cities on Sunday calling for "dignity" and greater
rights after a series of lurid prostitution scandals involving
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"We are defending the dignity of women," read a placard
held up at one of the rallies in Palermo, where thousands of
women marched through the city.
Thousands more rallied in Bari, Trieste and Venice --
with men also joining.
Solidarity protests by women abroad were also expected,
with a small rally of around 100 women held outside the
Italian consulate in Tokyo earlier Sunday.
"The importance of this rally is in the common
participation of men and women, young and old, intellectuals
and workers," Naples mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino said as she
marched through the southern Italian city.
The initiative has been organised by sisters Francesca
and Cristina Comencini, both actresses, who argue that
Berlusconi`s playboy antics and his sexist comments are part
of a much wider problem in Italian society.
"Neither right-wing governments, nor left-wing ones have
ever done anything," Cristina Comencini said ahead of the
protests.
She also criticised "discrimination in the job market due
to a lack of day-nurseries, family helpers and part-time
jobs."
PTI
