CNN
—
A court ruling that found a school janitor not guilty of groping a student because the act lasted less than 10 seconds has sparked outrage in Italy.
In their decision, the judges of the fifth criminal section of the Court of Rome said they acquitted the accused, a 66-year-old man according to the Italian state broadcaster RAI, of sexual assault because the whole thing lasted “about five to ten seconds. .”
In her testimony, the 17-year-old girl, according to RAI, said that the action took place in April 2022 while she was climbing the stairs of the school with a friend.
He testified that he pulled down his pants and felt a hand inside them, under his briefs, touching his buttocks, according to the verdict, which was released July 6.
“Love, you know I was joking,” said the janitor, according to the testimony of the teenager mentioned in the verdict.
During the trial, the janitor admitted that he touched the student but he did it “as a joke.”
The judges accepted the defense’s argument that the act was intended as a “clumsy joke” with no “libidinous intent” towards the woman.
The decision sparked outrage among students and sparked a viral trend on social media.
A local union representing high school students, ‘Rete degli Studenti Medi del Lazio,’ said on Facebook that “this is not a joke, there is nothing funny about it.”
“It is unacceptable that we do not feel protected at school. Once again, the patriarchal system wins, with the silent support of institutions and politics. This model does not represent us, we are always on the other side of the fence, for a safe society based on respect,” they said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Italians have taken to Instagram and TikTok to post videos of themselves touching a sensitive part of their body for 10 seconds, marked by a timer, in an attempt to show that it is indeed a long time that can make people uncomfortable and change. a person’s life. Associated with the media are the hashtags #10secondi and #palpatabreve (short palpation).
Among those who will take to social media is the actor of “The White Lotus” Paolo Camilli, who posted a video with the caption “shouldn’t the state protect us?” on his Instagram account.
