Italians groping themselves to protest against judge's '10-second rule'
The acquittal of a school caretaker, who admitted to fondling a 17-year-old female student, has ignited a wave of protests among young people in Italy. The judge ruled that the incident "does not constitute a crime" because it lasted less than 10 seconds. Now, outraged Italians are groping themselves in unsettling videos as a mark of protest against this judge's shocking 10-second groping rule.
Here's what happened
The 17-year-old girl at a Rome high school was walking up a staircase when she felt her trousers fall, a hand touching her and grabbing her underwear. "Love, you know I was joking," the 66-year-old accused Antonio Avola told her when she turned around. The incident happened in April 2022. The man admitted to groping her without consent but argued he was joking.
'It was no joke to me'
"The judges ruled that he was joking? Well, it was no joke to me," the student told Corriere della Sera newspaper, expressing her outrage at the outcome of the case. "This is not how an old man should 'joke' with a teenager," she remarked. "That handful of seconds was more than enough for the caretaker to make me feel his hands on me."
'Silence protects the aggressors, reporting is important'
The girl feels deeply betrayed by both her school and the justice system. "I'm starting to think I was wrong to trust the institutions. This is not justice." She expressed her worry that others might be discouraged from reporting similar incidents because of this decision, "They will feel that reporting abuse is just not worth it. But it's important because silence protects the aggressors."
#10secondi is trending on social media
Italians are actively uploading clips on Instagram and TikTok with the hashtag #10secondi and palpata breve - a brief groping. Some videos feature individuals staring stone-faced at the camera while fondling their breasts and chests alongside a timer counting down from 10 seconds. Other videos depict individuals continuously groping their female companion for nine seconds, only to stop just before the timer runs out.
