Berlusconi faces trial and the wrath of Italy's women (Time.com)

Silvio Berlusconi has never had this much trouble with women. After a weekend in which hundreds of thousands of women turned out to demonstrate against him, the Italian Prime Minister was officially indicted on Tuesday on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute and abusing the power of his office to cover it up. In her ruling, judge Cristina Di Censo accepted the argument put forth by prosecutors that the strength of the evidence against Berlusconi was "obvious" enough to warrant an accelerated trial. The proceedings, set to begin on April 6, will take place before three other female judges.

The ruling has energized Italy's fractured opposition and given strength to those who argue that Italian culture - fueled in no small part by Berlusconi's media empire - has a long way to go when it comes to women's rights. "Leaving aside for a moment the Prime Minister's behavior, which I find incredibly deviant, this is a problem that regards all parts of life and the economy in our country," Alessia Mosca, a parliamentarian with Italy's Democratic Party, tells TIME. Italian women have one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, shoulder a disproportionate share of the country's housework, and suffer from badly managed and inadequate services, such as daycare. "Sure, the first thing is that Berlusconi should resign and submit himself to the court's judgment, but we also have a responsibility to intervene on a problem that touches all sorts of sectors," says Mosca. (See pictures of Berlusconi and the politics of sex.)

Tuesday's ruling follows weeks of rolling revelations, in which Italians have watched with a growing sense of shock as leaked wiretaps painted a picture of alleged debauchery at Berlusconi's residence, with callers describing "bunga bunga" parties featuring multiple young women, sometimes dressed as nurses and police officers. The 74-year-old Prime Minister, who has denied all the allegations, stands accused of paying for sex with a Moroccan nightclub dancer named Karima El Mahroug when she was 17. Prosecutors also allege that Berlusconi abused the powers of his office when he called a police station after El Mahroug had been arrested on suspicions of theft, told officers she was the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and urged that she be released.

More disturbing, to many women, is a growing perception - brought into sharp focus by the scandal - that Italy has become a country in which sex provides the surest path to fame and success. Nicole Minetti, one of three people alleged to have procured women for Berlusconi's parties, is a former showgirl and dental hygienist who was installed on the Prime Minister's ticket as a regional counselor. In one tapped call, according to Italian press reports, El Mahroug, who also goes by the name Ruby Rubacuori - "Ruby, Stealer of Hearts" - can be heard telling her boyfriend at the time that Berlusconi accepted her request that he give her €5 million ($7 million) as compensation for having her name sullied by the allegations, and that he asked her not to "tell anybody anything." (See "Berlusconi's "Talk-Show Rant: Just Good Politics.")

On Sunday, Rome's Piazza del Popolo spilled over with demonstrators - mostly women - while others protested in more than 200 towns and cities across the country, displaying signs saying "Berlusconi resign" and "We like Sex; Not Bunga Bunga" in protest of the way women are treated in Berlusconi's Italy. Many Italians worry that the Prime Minister's alleged antics have dragged the country's name into the mud, with some newspaper websites offering regular roundups of the foreign press's coverage of the events. "The Ruby scandal was the last drop that overflowed the glass," says Lorella Zanardo, director of Women's Bodies, a documentary on the Italian media's portrayal of women. "Italian women are doctors, engineers, mothers. But we're in a cage when it comes to how we're represented on the Prime Minister's television stations. We're represented as only sex objects."

On hearing the news of his indictment, Berlusconi abandoned a press conference in Sicily to fly to Rome, where he met with his lawyers and advisers. The Prime Minister and El Mahroug both deny they ever engaged in sex, though El Mahroug, now 18, says she did receive money and jewelry from Berlusconi. And while the premier admits to calling the police station, he has argued that he was carrying out the duties of his office and trying to avoid a diplomatic incident. Berlusconi's lawyers are also expected to argue that El Mahroug is a year older than official documents indicate. (See Berlusconi in TIME's list of the top 10 old leaders.)

Berlusconi and his allies have repeatedly characterized the accusations as the work of a politicized justice system bent on undermining the democratically elected Prime Minister. Speaking to Italian reporters about Tuesday's ruling, Piero Longo, one of Berlusconi's lawyers, said, "We didn't expect anything different." On the fact that the Prime Minister would be tried by female judges, Longo added: "Great, ladies are welcome - and sometimes even pleasing."

Read: "Did Italy's Berlusconi Pay for Sex?"

See more on the Berlusconi sex scandal: Ruby tells her story.

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Women on bone drugs have less colon cancer: study (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women taking certain bone drugs after menopause appear less likely to develop colon cancer, Israeli and U.S. researchers said Monday.

The finding has them excited about the prospect of using the drugs -- called bisphosphonates -- to help prevent cancer in healthy people, but other experts are less enthusiastic.

"The lower risk of colorectal cancer risk seen among bisphosphonate users in this study is intriguing," Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society, who wasn't involved in the study, told Reuters Health by e-mail.

"However, these results should be interpreted with caution and require confirmation by additional studies."

The new work looked at 933 women with colon cancer, whose average age was just over 70. The researchers then found a comparison group of women without the disease, who matched the first group in age, ethnicity and clinics where they received treatment.

Earlier studies have found that women taking bisphosphonates have a lower risk of breast cancer. But it was unclear if that effect could be chalked up to the drugs, because the condition they are meant to treat -- bone thinning, or osteoporosis -- is tied to low estrogen levels, which also cuts breast cancer risk.

Colon cancer, on the other hand, has not been linked to estrogen, said Dr. Gad Rennert of the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, whose findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

His team found that women who had been taking bisphosphonates -- mainly the drug alendronate (Fosamax), which costs around $10 per month in the U.S. -- for at least a year had a considerably lower risk of developing colon cancer later on.

Even after considering other factors tied to the disease -- like aspirin or statin use and eating lots of vegetables -- their risk was 59 percent lower than that of women who hadn't taken the drugs.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in 19 men develops colorectal cancer at some point, and slightly fewer women do. The disease is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

Rennert said in an e-mail that alendronate is used by millions of women across the globe and has few side effects. The long-term effects are less well-known, however, and in rare cases it can cause bone death of the jaw, which would be important if healthy people were to take it.

Also, not all patients asked to participate in the study agreed, which could limit the results further.

Jacobs of the American Cancer Society added that one earlier study from the UK had found no link between bisphosphonate and colon cancer. Indeed, it found a higher risk of throat cancer in patients on the medication.

"Based on current evidence, bisphosphonates should not be used for prevention of colorectal cancer," Jacobs said. "Fortunately, there are proven ways to help prevent colorectal cancer. In particular, all Americans, 50 or older, should get a screening test so that precancerous polyps can be detected and removed before they turn into cancer."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/aaGhWR Journal of Clinical Oncology, online February 14, 2011.

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Italian women protest over Berlusconi sex scandal (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of women rallied in Rome and other cities on Sunday, incensed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal which they say has disgraced Italy.

"Women are offended. The image of our country that Berlusconi is presenting to the world is just unbearable," said 52-year-old Roberta Nicchiarelli, attending a rally in Rome.

The protests in more than 200 towns in Italy and even some cities abroad reflect growing anger among women at the prostitution scandal that has engulfed the premier, who has long counted conservative women among his key voters.

"I voted for him in the past, but I am really disappointed. I hope things will change," said former Berlusconi voter Pina.

Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday to bring Berlusconi to trial, accusing him of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is illegal in Italy.

The 74-year old premier has dismissed the accusations as "disgusting and disgraceful."

Leaked wiretaps from the investigation have been splashed over newspapers for weeks with references to bundles of cash, talk of sex games and gifts that would-be starlets received after attending parties at Berlusconi's villa.

"I love my boyfriend for free," read one banner in Rome, where crowds of women of all ages packed into a central square flanked by husbands, brothers and male friends.

"It's a scandal. I do not believe in his values, his behavior and the way he treats women. Italy doesn't have a future if these are the values that sustain us," said Paolo Campedel, a worker attending a rally in Padua in northern Italy.

ONE-SIDED

Photos and videos of a growing list of young women from the fringes of show business alleged to be connected to Berlusconi have been plastered over Italian television and media web sites, often showing them in erotic poses or in their underwear.

Campaigners say the increasingly one-sided image of women as sex objects has promoted a culture in which women see selling their good looks as the only route to success in a country where a third of young people are unemployed.

"Big boobs, small hips, and always available: it's almost become a dictatorship because television, the newspapers, only present this model of women," said Lorella Zanardo, author of Il Corpo Delle Donne, a book about the image of women in the media.

The scandal in mainly Catholic Italy has revived opposition calls for Berlusconi to resign at a time when he is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.

But he has survived sex scandals in the past and some of his most staunch supporters attended pro-Berlusconi rallies earlier in the week, while branding Sunday's demonstration a puritanical and politically motivated ploy.

The women's protest follows several anti-Berlusconi rallies this week. President Giorgio Napolitano has warned political tensions are too high and told Berlusconi at a meeting on Friday that Italy risked facing new elections as a result.

(Additional reporting by Philip Pullella, Giselda Vagnoni, Cristiano Corvino in Rome, and Martin de Sa' Pinto in Padua Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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Italian women protest over Berlusconi sex scandal (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of women rallied in Rome and other cities on Sunday, incensed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal which they say has disgraced Italy.
"Women are offended. The image of our country that Berlusconi is presenting to the world is just unbearable," said 52-year-old Roberta Nicchiarelli, attending a rally in Rome.
The protests in more than 200 towns in Italy and even some cities abroad reflect growing anger among women at the prostitution scandal that has engulfed the premier, who has long counted conservative women among his key voters.
"I voted for him in the past, but I am really disappointed. I hope things will change," said former Berlusconi voter Pina.
Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday to bring Berlusconi to trial, accusing him of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is illegal in Italy.
The 74-year old premier has dismissed the accusations as "disgusting and disgraceful."
Leaked wiretaps from the investigation have been splashed over newspapers for weeks with references to bundles of cash, talk of sex games and gifts that would-be starlets received after attending parties at Berlusconi's villa.
"I love my boyfriend for free," read one banner in Rome, where crowds of women of all ages packed into a central square flanked by husbands, brothers and male friends.
"It's a scandal. I do not believe in his values, his behavior and the way he treats women. Italy doesn't have a future if these are the values that sustain us," said Paolo Campedel, a worker attending a rally in Padua in northern Italy.
ONE-SIDED
Photos and videos of a growing list of young women from the fringes of show business alleged to be connected to Berlusconi have been plastered over Italian television and media web sites, often showing them in erotic poses or in their underwear.
Campaigners say the increasingly one-sided image of women as sex objects has promoted a culture in which women see selling their good looks as the only route to success in a country where a third of young people are unemployed.
"Big boobs, small hips, and always available: it's almost become a dictatorship because television, the newspapers, only present this model of women," said Lorella Zanardo, author of Il Corpo Delle Donne, a book about the image of women in the media.
The scandal in mainly Catholic Italy has revived opposition calls for Berlusconi to resign at a time when he is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.
But he has survived sex scandals in the past and some of his most staunch supporters attended pro-Berlusconi rallies earlier in the week, while branding Sunday's demonstration a puritanical and politically motivated ploy.
The women's protest follows several anti-Berlusconi rallies this week. President Giorgio Napolitano has warned political tensions are too high and told Berlusconi at a meeting on Friday that Italy risked facing new elections as a result.
(Additional reporting by Philip Pullella, Giselda Vagnoni, Cristiano Corvino in Rome, and Martin de Sa' Pinto in Padua Editing by Maria Golovnina)
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Italian women protest over Berlusconi sex scandal (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of women rallied in Rome and other cities on Sunday, incensed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal which they say has disgraced Italy.

"Women are offended. The image of our country that Berlusconi is presenting to the world is just unbearable," said 52-year-old Roberta Nicchiarelli, attending a rally in Rome.

The protests in more than 200 towns in Italy and even some cities abroad reflect growing anger among women at the prostitution scandal that has engulfed the premier, who has long counted conservative women among his key voters.

"I voted for him in the past, but I am really disappointed. I hope things will change," said former Berlusconi voter Pina.

Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday to bring Berlusconi to trial, accusing him of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is illegal in Italy.

The 74-year old premier has dismissed the accusations as "disgusting and disgraceful."

Leaked wiretaps from the investigation have been splashed over newspapers for weeks with references to bundles of cash, talk of sex games and gifts that would-be starlets received after attending parties at Berlusconi's villa.

"I love my boyfriend for free," read one banner in Rome, where crowds of women of all ages packed into a central square flanked by husbands, brothers and male friends.

"It's a scandal. I do not believe in his values, his behavior and the way he treats women. Italy doesn't have a future if these are the values that sustain us," said Paolo Campedel, a worker attending a rally in Padua in northern Italy.

ONE-SIDED

Photos and videos of a growing list of young women from the fringes of show business alleged to be connected to Berlusconi have been plastered over Italian television and media web sites, often showing them in erotic poses or in their underwear.

Campaigners say the increasingly one-sided image of women as sex objects has promoted a culture in which women see selling their good looks as the only route to success in a country where a third of young people are unemployed.

"Big boobs, small hips, and always available: it's almost become a dictatorship because television, the newspapers, only present this model of women," said Lorella Zanardo, author of Il Corpo Delle Donne, a book about the image of women in the media.

The scandal in mainly Catholic Italy has revived opposition calls for Berlusconi to resign at a time when he is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.

But he has survived sex scandals in the past and some of his most staunch supporters attended pro-Berlusconi rallies earlier in the week, while branding Sunday's demonstration a puritanical and politically motivated ploy.

The women's protest follows several anti-Berlusconi rallies this week. President Giorgio Napolitano has warned political tensions are too high and told Berlusconi at a meeting on Friday that Italy risked facing new elections as a result.

(Additional reporting by Philip Pullella, Giselda Vagnoni, Cristiano Corvino in Rome, and Martin de Sa' Pinto in Padua Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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