A person kissing the hand of a lady without her consent could possibly be sexual assault, Spain’s Supreme Court has said.
In 2023 a person approached a lady at a bus stop in Madrid, kissed her hand, and told her to follow him while indicating he would pay her.
He was found guilty of sexual assault and fined £1,400.
The person took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing there had been no violence or intimidation.
He argued the girl ‘might need felt bothered, offended, victim of an intrusion into her comfort zone, but there was never a transparent risk for her sexual integrity’.
The defence team argued that, at most, the encounter constituted harassment of a sexual nature in a public place.
However the Supreme Court found the encounter had ‘a transparent sexual component because he even kissed [her hand].’
They added: ‘[A woman] cannot tolerate being subjected to a person taking her hand and kissing her without consent in acts which have a transparent and obvious sexual connotation.’
Two magistrates disagreed, saying the kissing of a hand is an element of ‘Spanish culture’ and akin to shaking someone’s hand.
They said: ‘A kiss (or two) on the hand of one other person is, in our culture, a type of greeting, now obsolete.’
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