On International Women's Day, let's reflect on men who bring women down

WHEN Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's partner Andrea Giambruno was caught on tape appearing to flirt with a colleague, saying he's known to cheat on Meloni and inviting a woman to join a "threesome or foursome", you could almost hear the waves of Schadenfreude crashing across Europe.

- Ayesha Vardag

Many dislike Meloni, inset, for her right-wing politics. Many find her style abrasive. Many in Italy just weren't ready for their country to be run by a woman.

But even those who feel she is a good thing were gripped by the drama.

Meloni has had to exercise high levels of restraint about Giambruno's gaffes before. He made a controversial comment, as a current affairs TV presenter, in the context of a string of high-profile rape cases. He advised avoiding becoming drunk and unconscious because that is "when the wolf appears". It was seen as victim-blaming. Meloni surfaced to say he just meant, keep your eyes and ears open, as her own mother had told her. The common-sense vibe plays well with Meloni's power base, but she could have done without the ammunition he gave to her opponents.

This scandal, though, was one too far.

Meloni gave a graceful statement thanking Giambruno for their years together and their daughter and announced that their relationship "ends here". She sacked him on social media. He disappeared from public life; exit stage left the delinquent partner. The lesson is: don't humiliate and undermine someone driven enough to become the first woman PM of Italy.