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Italians 'grope' themselves after judge's ruling that 'touching for less than 10 sec not crime'
An Italian judge ruled that a school caretaker's grope of a teenager did not constitute a crime because it lasted less than 10 seconds.
After a judge's shocking ruling stating that a school caretaker's grope of a teenager 'did not last long enough' to be deemed criminal, Italians have taken to social media platforms to launch a massive protest. In the videos, Italian women and men stare at the camera while groping their breasts and chests alongside a timer counting down from 10 seconds.
What is the case about?
In April last year, 66-year-old Antonio Avola, a caretaker at a Rome high school groped a 17-year-old female student in a school stairwell. The caretaker admitted to committing the act but argued he’d only been joking, reported the New York Post.
“Love, you know I was joking,” the caretaker had told the girl when she reacted in shock.
Though the Roman public prosecutors had asked for a nearly four-year prison sentence and a sexual assault conviction, the judge acquitted the caretaker of all charges this week.
The judge argued the groping “did not constitute a crime” because it didn’t last for more than 10 seconds.
Online protest
Italian actor Paolo Camilli was among the first people who reacted strongly and posted their videos. Since the ruling, palpata breve - a brief groping - has become a trend on Instagram and TikTok in Italy, along with the #10secondi hashtag.
Influencer Francesco Cicconetti wrote on TikTok, "Who decides that 10 seconds is not a long time? Who times the seconds, while you're being harassed?
“Men don't have the right to touch women's bodies, not even for a second - let alone 5 or 10.”
Following the shocking ruling, the victim said she now fears the judges will deter girls and women from coming forward if they are subjected to such attacks.
Recent figures from the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) suggested that 70 per cent of Italian women who had suffered harassment between 2016 and 2021 did not report the incident.
