From the ArcaMax Publishing, Women Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/women/s-569930-974593
ROME (UPI) -- A group of female academics say the wives of world
leaders should boycott an upcoming meeting of the Group of Eight in
Italy.
The three Italian women, in an open appeal to the wives of U.S.
President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other
world leaders, urge them to refuse attend next month's G8 summit in
protest over Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "offensive"
attitude to women, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
The Telegraph said the open letter and petition was written by Anne
Maass of Padua University; Chiara Volpato of Bicocca University,
Milan; and Angelica Mucchi Faina of Perugia University. It faults
Berlusconi, 72, for his treatment of women "both in public and in
private."
Berlusconi's wife Veronica Lario has accused him in recent months of
maintaining an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old model
and of sleeping with a prostitute at a party held last year in his
Rome residence, the British newspaper said. Berlusconi denies his
wife's claims.
The academics' letter says Berlusconi's attitude toward women has
"transcended the personal sphere and assumed public significance,"
referring to his recruitment of show business women for politics, The
Times of London said.