Berlusconi shrugs off women’s protest

PRIME MINISTER Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday he had no intention of stepping down and dismissed a weekend demonstration by women across Italy over his involvement in a sex scandal.

Hundreds of thousands of women took part in rallies on Sunday to defend their dignity and protest over the underage prostitution scandal that has rocked the 74-year-old prime minister’s centre-right government.

Berlusconi has dismissed the investigation against him as “disgusting and disgraceful” but he has come under pressure from groups, including the Vatican and Italy’s main business lobby, Confindustria, and polls show his image has suffered.