The highest court in Italy bans crotch grabbing, setting an appeal by a 42 year old worker from Como (near Milan). The worker was convicted in 2006 of “ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing,”, although his lawyer said it was just a problem with his overalls (a wardrobe malfunction?) Because of the ruling, men may not touch their genitals in public in Italy.
There is a tradition among some Italian men that crotch grabbing actually wards off bad luck. But the court ruled that
“this has to be regarded as an act contrary to public decency, a concept including that nexus of socio-ethical behavioral rules requiring everyone to abstain from conduct potentially offensive to collectively held feelings of decorum.”
The phrase “io mi tocco i…”, or “I touch my…”, is still used to describe the act of crotch grabbing in much the same way as “touch wood” is in English.
Source: UK Guardian
