Epress.am News from Armenia
Italian women have held protests nationwide and abroad against embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, reports BBC News.
Thousands of protesters marched in more than 60 towns and cities nationwide.
Some women carried banners reading “Italy is not a brothel”, and said Berlusconi had demeaned women with his recent sex scandals.
The premier denies attending sex parties and consorting with prostitutes, labelling the claims “disgusting” and politically motivated.
Smaller protests were also held on Sunday in Brussels, Madrid, Lisbon, Paris, Lyon and Toulouse in France, and as far afield as Tokyo.
Recall, last week prosecutors in Milan applied to have Berlusconi put on trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underage girl.
He denies paying for sex with a Moroccan nightclub dancer when she was 17, and abusing his power to get her released by police after she was detained in another case.
A magistrate will now decide if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. If convicted, Berlusconi could face up to 15 years in prison.
Although frequenting prostitutes is not a crime in Italy, having sex with one under the age of 18 is an offence that carries a prison sentence.
Sunday’s protests had a title — Se non ora, quando? (If not now, when?) — designed to express the frustration of those Italian women who are asking what it will take for Berlusconi to resign, says the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy in Rome.
Protests took place across Italy, including Rome, Naples, Palermo, Bari, Trieste and Venice.
Some 400 men and women gathered outside the Sacre Coeur cathedral in Paris, banging pans and calling for Berlusconi to resign, while in Madrid, protesters carried banners reading: “Italy says enough” and “My dignity is not for sale”.