See the video: “Under ten seconds no crime” – Italian women grope their own breasts after court verdict against janitors in Rome.
Angry Italians grope each other’s chests in disturbing videos.
The reason: A court ruled that unwanted touching that lasts less than ten seconds is not considered a crime.
Antonio Avola, a 66-year-old caretaker from Rome, is said to have groped a 17-year-old student in the stairwell of a school on the Po. He has been acquitted of charges of sexual violence. The man admitted the incident, which took place in April 2022, in court and described it as a “joke”. Prosecutors asked for three and a half years in prison. The court acquitted the man. The touches were “clumsy and random”.
The videos on social media are tagged #10secondi or “palpata breve” – Italian for “short touch” – and aim to show how troublingly long ten seconds can be, especially in the case of a sexual assault.
Both men and women in Italy posted the clips on Instagram and TikTok, in which they stare straight at the camera as they finger their breasts as a 10-second timer counts down.
Italian actor Paolo Camilli started the trend, followed by dozens of other users on Instagram and Tiktok.
It is not the first time that a decision by an Italian court has caused outrage in the country. In 2016, a 65-year-old Italian man accused of groping his female colleagues was found not guilty of sexual harassment. An Italian court ruled that he was driven by an “immature sense of humour”.