Groping
{{Short description|Touching another person in a sexual way without consent}}
{{redirect|Grope|the mathematics term|Capped grope}}
{{stack|File:Images galantes et esprit de l'etranger- Berlin, Munich, Vienne, Turin, Londres (1905) (14589526219).jpgFile:Bullying Sexual.JPG}}
Groping is a form of sexual harassment involving the intentional inappropriate touching of another person commonly without their consent.{{Cite web |title=Grope, verb |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/groping |website=Cambridge Dictionary}} The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies. The Age, 12 June 2019, [https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/disgusting-man-sentenced-for-groping-female-runner-on-sydney-s-bay-run-20190612-p51x1t.html 'Disgusting': man sentenced for groping female runner on Sydney's Bay Run] 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.
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.{{fact|date=November 2022}}
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.{{cite web |work=The Express Tribune |date=2013-07-08 |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/572526/eve-teasing-the-power-game/ |title=Eve teasing: The power game |first=Tehniya S |last=Afridi }}{{cite web |first=Smriti |last=Lakhey |url=http://www.wavemag.com.np/issue/article1549.html |title=Eve Teasing |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620213348/http://www.wavemag.com.np/issue/article1549.html |archivedate=2010-06-20 |work=Wave |issue=55 |date=2000-07-01 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/eve-teasers-beat-dead-youth-in-dhaka-45137 |title=Eve-teasers beat dead youth in Dhaka |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012100511/http://www.thedailystar.net/eve-teasers-beat-dead-youth-in-dhaka-45137 |archivedate=2014-10-12 |work=Daily Star |date=2014-10-11 }}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/that-kind-of-behaviour-is-intolerable-leigh-sales-responds-to-unwanted-kiss-20190902-p52n8v.html|title='That kind of behaviour is intolerable': Leigh Sales responds to unwanted kiss|first=Laura|last=Chung|date=September 2, 2019|website=The Age}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-kiss-let-s-revise-the-rules-of-engagement-20190903-p52nmn.html|title=The kiss: let's revise the rules of engagement|first=Pru|last=Goward|date=September 4, 2019|website=The Age}} In 2021, immunity to charges of sexual harassment was withdrawn from Australian politicians.{{Cite news |title= Australia says politicians no longer exempt from sexual harassment rules|date=8 April 2021 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210408-australia-says-politicians-no-longer-exempt-from-sexual-harassment-rules}}
In April 2019, a doctor in Pennsylvania was charged with indecent assault for touching a male patient's penis during a medical examination. {{cite web|url=https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/contests/lancaster-county-doctor-accused-of-inappropriately-touching-patients-penis-during-ankle-exam/521-d031abca-1e21-4cdd-8aaf-2db2c7068865|title=Lancaster County doctor accused of inappropriately touching patient's penis during ankle exam|publisher=Fox 43|date=April 10, 2019}} The doctor, 56-year-old William Vollmar, had faced numerous allegations dating back to 2015. On November 12, 2020, Vollmar pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 9 to 20 years in a state prison. {{cite web|url=https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/lancaster-county/lancaster-county-doctor-accused-of-numerous-sexual-assault-offenses-expected-to-plead-guilty-today/521-2bb0469a-2531-48d8-be08-9eba3848943a|title=Former Lancaster County doctor will serve up to 20 years in prison after pleading no contest to sexual assault|publisher=Fox 43|date=November 12, 2020}}
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.{{Cite news |date=2022-07-01 |title=Chris Pincher suspended as Tory MP after groping allegation |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62014765 |access-date=2022-07-01}}
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.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/world/americas/11mexico.html|title=On Single-Sex Buses, Relief From Unwanted Contact|publisher=New York Times|author=Marc Lacey|work=Mexico City Journal|date=February 11, 2008}}{{Cite news| title =Belarus rail targets 'smelly men' | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4439735.stm | access-date = June 11, 2008 | work=BBC News | date=April 13, 2005 | first=Tatyana | last=Nechapayka}}{{Cite news |title=Visually-impaired want railways to clarify stance on riding in women-only carriages|url=http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070405p2a00m0na017000c.html
|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070417030808/http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070405p2a00m0na017000c.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 17, 2007|publisher=Mainichi Shimbun |date=April 5, 2007}}{{cite news|title=Metro reserves compartments for females|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080907/jsp/calcutta/story_9796361.jsp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208220658/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080907/jsp/calcutta/story_9796361.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 8, 2012 | work=The Telegraph | date=September 7, 2008}}
Some places in Germany, Korea, and China have women's parking spaces, often for related safety issues.{{cite web |url=http://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/bmfsfj/generator/ADS/Tipps-fuer-Betroffene/faqs%2Cdid%3D102812.html|title=Antidiskriminierungsstelle - Fragen und Antworten - Ist die Schaffung von Frauenparkplätzen diskriminierend?|date=January 25, 2008 |access-date=June 6, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125042723/http://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/bmfsfj/generator/ADS/Tipps-fuer-Betroffene/faqs%2Cdid%3D102812.html|archive-date=January 25, 2008|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2010/01/05/un-parking-pour-femmes-avec-des-places-de-stationnement-plus-larges_1287554_3216.html|title=Un parking pour femmes avec des places de stationnement... plus larges|newspaper=Le Monde.fr|date=January 5, 2010|access-date=June 6, 2017|via=Le Monde}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20090807025638/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1914471,00.html?xid=rss-world Will High-Heel-Friendly Streets Keep Seoul's Women Happy?], Time, 2009
=Japan=
{{main|Chikan (body contact)}}
{{stack|File:Ladies Only Train.jpg}}
{{stack|Image:Chikan Sign.jpg}}
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.{{cite news|last1=Buerk|first1=Roland|title=Tokyo police act on train gropers|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8254389.stm|access-date=12 November 2017|work=BBC|agency=BBC|publisher=BBC|date=14 September 2009}} As part of the effort to combat the problem, some railway companies designate women-only passenger cars during rush hours.{{Cite web|url=http://www.belsona-strategic.com/hisandhers_subway.htm|title=Untitled Document|date=December 26, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226060039/http://www.belsona-strategic.com/hisandhers_subway.htm|archive-date=2007-12-26}}[https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/International/story?id=803965&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 "Japan Tries Women Only Train Cars to Stop Groping: Tokyo Subway Experiment Attempts to Slow Epidemic of Subway Fondling"] An ABC News article.{{Cite web|url=http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/35/11500|title=Women-Only Cars on Commuter Trains Cause Controversy in Japan|date=December 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218143817/http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/35/11500|archive-date=2007-12-18}}
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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-30/japanese-anti-groping-stamp-sells-out-within-an-hour/11466246|title=Anti-groping stamp sells out within an hour in Japan|date=August 30, 2019|website=ABC News}} another common setting is bicycle parking areas, where people bending over unlocking locks are targeted. Chikan is often featured in Japanese pornography.{{fact|date=November 2022}}
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.{{cite news |date=20 February 2007 |title=Tokyo legal drama gets grip on groping |url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=7&art_id=38575&sid=12296751&con_type=1&d_str=20070220 |url-status=dead |newspaper=The Standard |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731162401/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=7&art_id=38575&sid=12296751&con_type=1&d_str=20070220 |archive-date=31 July 2009 |access-date=10 October 2015}} 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.{{cite news |last=Kamiya |first=Setsuko |title='I Just Didn't Do It' questions the Japanese court system |work=The Japan Times |date=2007-02-02 |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070202a6.html |access-date=2007-11-01}} The criminal courts have traditionally been lenient in cases of groping and have only recently{{When|date=January 2022}} made efforts to combat the social problem with tougher sentences.{{cite news| last =Lewis| first =Leo| title =All women trains are only way to defeat Tokyo bottom pinchers| publisher =The Times Online |date =2004-11-24| url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article394630.ece| archive-url =https://archive.today/20080724150036/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article394630.ece| url-status =dead| archive-date =July 24, 2008| access-date =2007-11-01}}Fukada, Takahiro, "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090818i1.html In anonymous packed train lurk gropers]", The Japan Times, August 18, 2009, p. 3.
=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{{what|date=August 2019}}, if there is no sexual penetration.{{fact|date=November 2022}}
- Louisiana: Title 14, criminal law RS 14:43.1; §43.1. Sexual battery: A. Sexual battery is the intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, when any of the following occur: (1) The offender acts without the consent of the victim.{{cite web |url=http://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2006/146/78532.html |title=Justia (US Law) |accessdate=2012-08-08 }}
- Michigan: The Michigan Penal Code (except), Act 328 of 1931, 750.520e Criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree; misdemeanor. Groping is considered Criminal Sexual Conduct specifically; (v) When the actor achieves the sexual contact through concealment or by the element of surprise.{{cite web |url=http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28mwbxr355purouo55veifrc33%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-750-520e |title=Michigan law |accessdate=2012-08-08 }}
See also
{{Wiktionary|grope}}
{{Portal|Human sexuality}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Wikiquote}}