Italian stars launch fresh sex abuse protest
MORE THAN 120 Italian actresses and female directors have launched a blistering attack on sexual harassment in the country’s film industry in the latest reaction to the Harvey Weinstein and Hollywood abuse scandals.
“We are no longer afraid,” the women wrote in an open letter, vowing to expose molestation and intimidation.
The letter, published in the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, was the work of 124 actresses, screenwriters, producers and costume designers.
“We are not pointing a finger at individual molesters, we are challenging the whole system,” the letter said.
Sexual harassment affected not only women in the film and television industry but working women everywhere, they said.
The group included high-profile actresses who wanted to “unmask” the abuse. One notable name missing from the list was Asia Argento, 42, the Romeborn actress who publicly accused Weinstein of raping her two decades ago. Weinstein denies her allegation.
She reportedly declined to sign the letter because she had wanted it to go further by naming the offenders and detailing the abuses they committed.
“I’m waiting for concrete gestures,” she wrote on Twitter.
The letter comes after Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former premier, suggested women should be happy if a man tried to seduce them.