Groping outlawed

last updated 8 January 2015

Rome

Italy’s high court ruled this week that grabbing a woman’s behind was a form of sexual assault. The finding was a reversal of the court’s ruling two years ago, when it said that an unwanted smack or pinch on the bottom was acceptable if it was “an isolated or impulsive act.” That ruling caused international outrage and galvanized Italian women’s groups to lobby the government. Italian women welcomed the new no-touching rule, but they didn’t think it would make notoriously grabby Italian males keep their hands to themselves. “It won’t change the way they behave because I don’t think girls often go to the police over this kind of thing,” Tara Londi told the BBC. “A slap in the face is always better.”