The ‘10 second grope’ ruling is ridiculous. Sexual assault has no time limit

I have been raped, groped and sexually harassed – and every assault triggered the same sensation of being violated, which stayed with me for years, writes Hannah Shewan Stevens. How long they lasted made no difference

To highlight just how long 10 seconds feels, Italians are posting videos looking into the camera and touching intimate parts of themselves (Camilla Pagliarosi)

To state what should be the obvious: sexual assault has no time limit. Whether it lasts one second or one hour, the violation of another person’s body is equally unacceptable. Yet, apparently, this is difficult to grasp – for an Italian judge has cleared a school caretaker of groping a teenage schoolgirl because it “did not last long enough” to qualify as sexual assault.

The 17-year-old schoolgirl described walking up a flight of stairs at school when she felt her trousers being pulled down, a hand touch her buttocks and then grope at her underwear. After the incident, which occurred in April 2022, the student reported 66-year-old caretaker Antonio Avola to the police.

He admitted to groping the student without consent, but claimed that it was a “joke without sexual intent”. Despite a public prosecutor asking for a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, the judge acquitted the caretaker of all sexual assault charges.

The judge asserted that the assault “does not constitute a crime” because it lasted for less than 10 seconds, setting a devastating precedent that cannot be allowed to stand.

Clearly, this judge has zero empathy or understanding for the long-term effects of sexual assault. Take it from me: even if an assault lasts for seconds, the impact can endure forever.

After a sexual assault, the touch stays with you. It haunts your body as a reminder that someone else claimed ownership over what should have been wholly yours. A person’s body belongs to them and them alone, but a sexual assault attempts to strip away this right by attacking an individual’s autonomy for the assailant’s selfish pleasure.

The severity or length of such an assault does not equate to a specific impact. There is no mathematically accurate graph that assigns impact according to the time it took to be assaulted. Trauma affects every brain differently – a 10-second assault can feel like a lifetime to the victim. Regardless of the nature of the assault, the feeling is the same.

I have been raped, groped, and sexually harassed; each one triggered the same sensation of being violated, which stayed with me for years. How long each lasted made no difference. It is the nature of the transgression that matters, not how quickly the assailant completes their assault.

Italians agree. In response to the ruling, social media users launched a hashtag on Instagram: Palpata breve – “a brief groping” – is currently trending, along with #10secondi.

To highlight just how long 10 seconds feels IRL, Italians are posting videos looking into the camera and touching intimate parts of themselves. As a viewer, it feels torturous, invasive, distressing.

These provocative videos highlight the judge’s ludicrous ruling as nothing more than a bizarre attempt to quantify the seriousness of sexual assault according to its duration. Is this the new standard?

Just think about other crimes: to stab someone takes just a second, but it’s undoubtedly criminal. To steal a chocolate bar from a shop takes two seconds – max. To run someone over? Three, four at most. So why are we being told that time affects whether something is wrong – or right?

If a robbery is completed in eight seconds, should the burglar be acquitted? If a fraudster successfully completes the crime within the time limit, should they be let off? If murder is completed under the time limit, does the crime even exist?

If your head is spinning with the ridiculousness of this argument, you’re not alone. So, why is this allowed to happen? The answer is depressingly simple: sexual assault is still not taken seriously. We’ve long heard “reasons” such as the victim’s clothing or level of inebriation brought up to dismiss a rape case. It’s no wonder the number of prosecutions remain shockingly low. It’s no wonder women don’t even bother reporting sexual assault in the first place.

Accepting this kind of excuse – that it was a “joke” – undermines all survivors of sexual assault.

The victim in this incident, it has been reported, now regrets going to the police – and I don’t blame her. Sometimes it’s easier to live in silence than deal with the trauma of testifying against an assailant who will likely get let off with an acquittal.

If anything below 10 seconds is seen as viable, then what we might see now is a slew of “fast gropers”, a dangerous precedent that will disproportionately affect women.

The only five or 10-second rule I’m willing to stand for is whether I can eat food that’s fallen on the floor. Though, thanks to this Italy court case, the only thing I’m picking up from the floor right now is my jaw.