Groping

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"Gallant images and spirit of the foreigner" (1905) Images galantes et esprit de l'etranger- Berlin, Munich, Vienne, Turin, Londres (1905) (14589526219).jpg
"Gallant images and spirit of the foreigner" (1905)
A man gropes a woman's thigh (Mexico City, 2015). Bullying Sexual.JPG
A man gropes a woman's thigh (Mexico City, 2015).

Groping is a form of sexual assault involving the intentional inappropriate touching of another person commonly without their consent. [1] The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies [2] Touching a consenting person's body during sexual activity, a massage, or a medical examination is not usually considered groping, though the term is sometimes used to include clumsy, selfish, or inappropriate sexual touching. Areas of the body most frequently groped include the buttocks, breasts, vulva, thigh, penis, and scrotum. Gropers might use their hands, but pressing any part of their body against another person can be considered groping.

Contents

The practice of women being subjected to a pat down by officers, such as customs or security officers at airports, is controversial. Such behaviour by public officials requires a clear legal authorization.

Toucherism , considered a paraphilia, is a practice of a person touching another non-consenting person with their hands, typically in crowds, for their own sexual pleasure. Groping may be depicted in pornographic films.

Cultural incidents

Italy used to have a reputation for men pinching women's bottoms, and the term groping could perhaps be applied, but it was not a common term at that time (mid-20th century, for example). Japan has a reputation for men groping women on trains and buses to the extent that the authorities have implemented anti-groping campaigns, which has received considerable media attention and been the subject of serious study in recent years.[ citation needed ]

In parts of South Asia, especially India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, public sexual harassment or molestation (often known as "street harassment") of women by men is widely referred to as Eve teasing. [3] [4] [5]

In Australia, in August 2019, the host at a charity event offered his cheek to a female guest presenter for a peck, before turning his head and kissing her on the lips. The presenter publicly said: "That kind of behaviour is intolerable and the time for women being subject to it or having to tolerate it is long gone." The host apologised for his behaviour. [6] [7] In 2021 immunity to charges of sexual harassment was withdrawn from Australian politicians. [8]

In June 2022, British MP Christopher Pincher was suspended from the Conservative Party after it was alleged that he had groped two men, while drunk, at London's Carlton Club. [9]

Combatting groping

In practice, women are the predominant targets for groping. To combat groping, street harassment, and Eve teasing of women in crowded public places, some countries have also designated women only spaces. For example, sex-segregated buses, women-only passenger cars, and compartments on trains have been introduced in Mexico, Japan, the Philippines, the UAE, and other countries to reduce such sexual harassment. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Some places in Germany, Korea, and China have women's parking spaces, often for related safety issues. [14] [15] [16]

Japan

A sign on a station platform in Osaka, Japan, showing the boarding point for a ladies-only car Ladies Only Train.jpg
A sign on a station platform in Osaka, Japan, showing the boarding point for a ladies-only car
A sign outside of a bicycle parking lot in Chiba, Japan, warns "Beware of groping". Chikan Sign.jpg
A sign outside of a bicycle parking lot in Chiba, Japan, warns "Beware of groping".

In Japan, a man who gropes women in public is called chikan (痴漢); and the term also describes the act itself. Crowded trains are a common place for groping and a 2001 survey conducted in two Tokyo high schools revealed that more than two thirds of female students had been groped while traveling on them. [17] As part of the effort to combat the problem, some railway companies designate women-only passenger cars during rush hours. [18] [19] [20]

While the term is not defined in the Japanese legal system, vernacular usage of the word describes acts that violate several laws. Although crowded trains are the most frequent targets, [21] another common setting is bicycle parking areas, where people bending over unlocking locks are targeted. Chikan is often featured in Japanese pornography.[ citation needed ]

This issue affects men in a different way. Since Japan has a very high conviction rate (99% by some sources), innocent men may have difficulty proving their innocence in court. [22] The film I Just Didn't Do It by Japanese film director Masayuki Suo, based on a true story, focuses on a male office worker acquitted of groping after a five-year legal battle. [23] The criminal courts have traditionally been lenient in cases of groping and have only recently[ when? ] made efforts to combat the social problem with tougher sentences. [24] [25]

United States

The charge can vary from state to state but generally is considered to be sexual battery, sexual groping, or unlawful touching. In some jurisdictions, groping is considered criminal sexual conduct, in the second to fourth degree[ clarification needed ], if there is no sexual penetration.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voyeurism</span> Sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors

Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature.

Frotteurism is a paraphilic interest in rubbing, usually one's pelvic area or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual pleasure. It may involve touching any part of the body, including the genital area. A person who practices frotteuristic acts is known as a frotteur.

An intimate part, personal part or private part is a place on the human body which is customarily kept covered by clothing in public venues and conventional settings, as a matter of fashion and cultural norms. Depending on the culture, revealing these parts can be a legal or religious offense.

Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, and the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment</span> Unwanted sexual attention or advances

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and/or a demand or request for sexual favors, making sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

In India, eve teasing is a euphemism, primarily occurring in Indian English, used for public sexual harassment or sexual assault of women by men. The name "Eve" alludes to the Bible's creation story concerning Adam and Eve. Considered a problem related to delinquency in male youth, it is a form of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places and catcalls, to groping.

Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other types of aggression. To these descriptions, one can also add the Kantian notion of the wrongness of using another human being as means to an end rather than as ends in themselves. Some sources describe abuse as "socially constructed", which means there may be more or less recognition of the suffering of a victim at different times and societies.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as the greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery if victims and perpetrators knew each other prior to the commission of the crime. The Gay Panic Defense has also been used to justify violence against LGBTQ people.

Akinwale Oluwafolajimi Oluwatope Arobieke, commonly known as Purple Aki, is a British man known for his criminal convictions for harassment. He has been convicted for touching and measuring the muscles of young men and asking them to squat his body weight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women-only passenger car</span> Railway or subway cars intended for women only

Women-only passenger cars are railway or subway cars intended for women only. They are a result of sexual segregation in some societies, but also can result from attempts to reduce sexual harassment and assault such as groping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street harassment</span> Harassment occurring in a public setting

Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf whistles, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by strangers, in public areas such as streets, shopping malls and public transportation. Besides actions or comments that contain a sexual connotation, it often includes homophobic and transphobic slurs, and hateful comments referencing race, religion, class, ethnicity and disability. The practice is rooted in power and control and is often a reflection of societal discrimination, and has been argued to sometimes result from a lack of opportunities for expression of interest or affection.

<i>Chikan</i> (body contact) Japanese term referring to sexual harassment

Chikan is sexual harassment or other obscene acts conducted against the victim's will, or a person who commits such an act. The term is frequently used to describe men who take advantage of the crowded conditions on the public transit systems to grope women, although men can be victims of chikan as well. While the term is not defined in the Japanese legal system, vernacular use describes acts that violate several laws. The neologism referring to the corresponding female chikan is chijo.

Rape can be categorized in different ways: for example, by reference to the situation in which it occurs, by the identity or characteristics of the victim, and by the identity or characteristics of the perpetrator. These categories are referred to as types of rape. The types described below are not mutually exclusive: a given rape can fit into multiple categories, by for example being both a prison rape and a gang rape, or both a custodial rape and the rape of a child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime and Disorder Act 1998</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was published on 2 December 1997 and received royal assent in July 1998. Its key areas were the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, granting local authorities more responsibilities with regards to strategies for reducing crime and disorder, and the introduction of law specific to 'racially aggravated' offences. The Act also abolished rebuttable presumption that a child is doli incapax and formally abolished the death penalty for the last civilian offences carrying it, namely treason and piracy.

In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent. Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual contact with minors under the age of consent, it is a generic term, and very few jurisdictions use the actual term statutory rape in the language of statutes. In statutory rape, overt force or threat is usually not present. Statutory rape laws presume coercion because a minor or mentally disabled adult is legally incapable of giving consent to the act.

Sexual consent is consent to engage in sexual activity. In many jurisdictions, sexual activity without consent is considered rape or other sexual assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany</span> Mass sexual assaults mostly in Cologne and by North African men

During the 2015–2016 celebrations of New Year's Eve in Germany, approximately 1,200 women were reported to have been sexually assaulted, especially in the city of Cologne. In many of the incidents, while these women were in public spaces, they were surrounded and assaulted by large groups of men who were identified by officials as Muslim men of Arab or North African origin. The Federal Criminal Police Office confirmed in July 2016 that 1,200 women had been sexually assaulted on that night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pincher scandal</span> 2022 political controversy in the United Kingdom

The Chris Pincher scandal was a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's misconduct emerged, including allegations that pre-dated his appointment as Deputy Chief Whip.

Forcible touching, under New York State law, is a sex offense. A person found guilty of it may be sentenced to up to one year in prison, up to three years probation, may be required to register as a sex offender, and may be ordered to comply with orders of protection.

Rape in Japan is sexual assault involving sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent in the nation. Victims and perpetrators include Japanese citizens, residents, and foreign nationals from a wide range of backgrounds and every social class.

References

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