A pornographic website posted doctored photos of numerous high-profile Italian women, including prime minister Giorgia Meloni and opposition leader Elly Schlein, sparking outrage. The images, taken from personal social media accounts or public sources, were altered to zoom in on body parts or to suggest sexual poses and were accompanied by vulgar, sexist captions. The site, Phica, launched in 2005 and named with a misspelling of a slang word for vagina, hosted a VIP section and had over 700,000 subscribers. The scandal revived debate over persistent misogyny and gender-based violence, followed the closure of a Facebook account where men exchanged intimate photos, and prompted legal complaints, police investigations, and an online petition with more than 150,000 signatures.
A pornographic website that posted doctored photos of a host of high-profile Italian women, including the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and opposition leader, Elly Schlein, has sparked outrage in Italy. The photos, accompanied by vulgar and sexist captions, were either harvested from personal social media accounts or public sources before being altered and published on the Italian platform, called Phica, which has more than 700,000 subscribers.
Images of female politicians from across party lines, which featured in the site's VIP section, were often those taken during rallies or TV interviews, or while the women were in their bikinis on holiday. They were altered to zoom in on body parts or suggest sexual poses. The scandal, which has revived the debate in Italy over persistent misogyny and gender-based violence,
Phica, which is a misspelt play on a slang word for vagina in Italian, was launched in 2005 and appeared to have operated unhindered until several politicians from the centre-left Democratic party (PD) announced they had submitted a legal complaint. Police are now investigating. Meloni, whose sister Arianna was also targeted by the site, did not comment when approached by reporters late on Wednesday, Corriere della Sera reported.
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