Does an assault that lasts less than 10 seconds count as sexual harassment?

Lots of civilians inside Italy expressed their outrage on social networks after a court acquitted a school janitor who groped a teenager, understanding that the act didn’t last long enough.

The case concerns a 17-year-old high school student in Rome.

She said while walking up a flight of stairs to class with a friend, she felt her pants fall down, a hand touch her buttocks and grab her underwear.

“Honey, you know I was kidding,” the man told her as she turned around.

After the incident, which took place in April 2022, the student reported the school employee, identified as Antonio Avola, 66.

The man admitted groping the student without her permission, but said it was a joke.

the 10 seconds

A prosecutor in Rome had demanded three and a half years in prison, but this week the caretaker was acquitted of assault. According to the judges, what happened is “not a crime”, because it lasted less than 10 seconds.

Since the statement, the expression short palpata (a short touch) has become a trend on Instagram and TikTok in Italy along with the hashtag #10seconds.

White Lotus actor Paolo Camilli was among those who expressed anger that “a brief touch, if it lasts less than 10 seconds, is not considered a crime,” according to an Italian court. TIKTOK

Italians have posted videos of them staring into the camera in silence and touching their genitals for 10 seconds at a time.

Videos are often meant to show how long 10 seconds can feel.

The first was posted by the White Lotus actor, Paolo Camelliand thousands of people have since followed suit.

Another video was posted by Chiara Ferragni, the most famous influencer from Italy with 29.4 million followers on Instagram.

Another influencer, Francesco Cicconetti, wrote on TikTok: “Who decides that 10 seconds isn’t long? Who’s timing the seconds while you’re being harassed?

“Men have no right to touch women’s bodies even for a second, let alone 5 or 10.”

Cicconetti added that the judges’ decision to acquit the employee shows how common sexual harassment is in Italian society.

A post on Freeda’s Instagram account reads, “This sentence is absurd. The duration of the harassment should not lessen its severity.

But according to the judges, the caretaker did not hesitate. He touched the teenager only briefly and performed a “tricky maneuver without lust.”

The student expresses himself

“Did the judges rule that he was joking? Well, it wasn’t a joke to me,” the student told the paper. Corriere della Sera.

“The janitor came from behind without saying anything. He reached down into my pants and into my underwear.

‘He touched my butt. Then he lifted me up and hurt my genitals. To me this is no joke. This is not how an old man should joke with a teenager.”

“That handful of seconds was more than enough for him to make me feel his hands on me.”

And added that feels doubly betrayed: for his school and for the justice system.

“I’m starting to think I was wrong to trust the institutions. This is not justice.”

The student fears that the judge’s ruling will deter girls and women from reporting if they are the target of these types of attacks.

Recent figures from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights suggest that 70% of Italian women who were victims of harassment between 2016 and 2021 did not report the incident.

“They will feel that reporting abuse is just not worth it. But it is important, because silence protects the aggressors.”