People grope themselves after judge rules sexual assault must last 10 seconds

Furious Italians are groping themselves in protest after a judge's latest controversial ruling on sexual assault.

The Italian judge ruled that consensual and unwanted touching is not an act of sexual assault or a crime so long as it is less than 10 seconds.

His controversial declaration was made as part of the acquittal of a 66-year-old man who admitted to fondling a schoolgirl – but as a “joke”

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Following the case, men and women across the country have posted to their social media, including Instagram and TikTok, sharing clips of them groping themselves for 10 seconds.

Typically each clip shows their unemotive face while they grope their chest beside a counting down 10-second timer.

Other footage includes people caressing themselves for nine seconds and stopping just before the timer hits 10 seconds. They then mockingly tell the camera it is just a joke and not assault.

Often tagged with #10secondi or “palpata breve” — Italian for “a brief groping” — the videos are intended to demonstrate how unnervingly long 10 seconds can be, especially during a sexual assault, as reported by the New York Post.

In April 2022, 66-year-old Antonio Avola, a caretaker at a Rome high school admitted to groping a 17-year-old female student in a school stairwell.

Avola crept up behind the girl while she walked to class with a friend, then pulled her pants down and fondled her buttocks and underwear.

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The victim claimed that he then said to her “Love, you know I was joking”.

After the girl reported the incident to police, Avola admitted to grabbing her but insisted it was merely a joke.

Despite prosecutors asking for a four-year prison sentence and a sexual assault conviction, the judge dismissed the case and ruled Avola innocent.

The judge argued the groping “does not constitute a crime” because it didn’t last for more than 10 seconds.

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The victim has also spoken out in outrage at the judge's decision, speaking to the newspaper Corriere della Sera she called the rule a “joke”.

She said: “The judges ruled that he was joking? Well, it was no joke to me,”.

“The caretaker came up from behind without saying anything. He put his hands down my trousers and inside my underwear.

“He groped my bottom. Then, he pulled me up — hurting my private parts. For me, this is not a joke. This is not how an old man should ‘joke’ with a teenager.”

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

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