Italian women protest after judge clears caretaker of sex charges

Italian women are sharing videos of themselves rubbing their breasts in protest against the decision of a judge who declined to punish a school caretaker for groping a student because the act ‘lasted less than 10 seconds’.

The incident unfolded at a school in Rome in April 2022, when 66-year-old caretaker Antonio Avola plunged his hand down the trousers of a 17-year-old female student, groping her buttocks and pulling on her underwear.

After being reported to police by the victim, Avola confessed to the act, claiming he had done it as ‘a joke’. Prosecutors had called for the elderly man to receive a three-and-a-half-year sentence for sexual assault.

But this week the judge acquitted Avola on all charges because groping under 10 seconds ‘does not constitute a crime’. 

In the wake of the shocking ruling, Italian actor Paolo Camilli posted a video on his TikTok account in which he filmed himself rubbing his chest for almost 10 seconds in silence, underscoring the length of time the caretaker was able to assault the teen.

His post sparked a swell of protest across social media, with the hashtags #10secondi (10 seconds) and #palpatabreve (brief groping) used to share the outrage. 

Italian women are sharing videos of themselves rubbing their breasts in protest against the decision of a judge who declined to punish a school caretaker for groping a student because the act ‘lasted less than 10 seconds’

Thousands took part in the protest, with some videos being re-shared by notable figures including Chiara Ferragni, a famous Italian social media influencer with almost 30 million followers. 

The student meanwhile was furious with the court’s decision not to punish Avola.

‘The judges ruled that he was joking? Well, it was no joke to me,’ the student told Italian publication Corriere della Sera.

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

‘He groped my bottom… 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.

‘I’m starting to think I was wrong to trust the institutions,’ she said, referencing her decision to report the caretaker to the school and police.

It is not the first time such a decision by Italian judges has sparked outrage in the country.

In the wake of the shocking ruling, Italian actor Paolo Camilli posted a video on his TikTok account in which he filmed himself rubbing his chest for almost 10 seconds in silence

In 2016, a 65-year-old Italian man accused of groping his female colleagues was found not guilty of sexual harassment because an Italian court ruled that he was driven by an immature sense of humour.

The ruling was condemned in the country where around a third of women aged 16 to 70 are said to have suffered some form of physical or sexual violence.

A junior colleague accused the man of touching her sexually, while a second woman said he treated he like ‘a little girl… as if he were giving me a light slap on the behind’, court documents stated.

The court in Palermo, Sicily, admitted he had behaved exactly as the women said but decided to acquit him anyway.