Is groping punishable in Germany? Assuming that no force is used, and all people involved are adults.
Hypothetical case: Bob enters a bus and sits down next to Chuck. Both are adults, and they don’t know each other. Suddenly Chuck makes Bob a compliment and gropes Bob’s crotch. This inflicts no physical pain on Bob, and Chuck is in no way holding Bob down.
What I found out so far, as a layman (please correct me!):
§ 174 StGB (and § 174a, § 174b, § 174c), § 176 StGB (and § 176a, § 176b), § 179 StGB and § 182 StGB define sexual abuse.
Bob is 18+ years old, and there does not exist any kind of power gap, so I think § 174/176/179/182 do not apply.
§ 177 StGB and § 178 StGB define sexual assault (Sexuelle Nötigung) and rape (Vergewaltigung). § 177 (1) makes clear that it has to involve force/violence (Gewalt), a threat (Drohung), or exploiting of a defenseless position (Ausnutzung einer Lage …).
Chuck is not using violence, nor is he threatening, nor is Bob defenseless, so I think § 177/178 do not apply.
Most of the other paragraphs from the 13. section seem to be about prostitution, pornography, and exhibitionism; these obviously don’t apply.
I read that sometimes § 185 StGB (insult) can be relevant, but this would require the intent to insult (e.g., making snide remarks while groping), so this does not seem to apply in the hypothetical case (Chuck even compliments Bob!).
§ 223 (bodily harm) does not seem to apply (the groping doesn’t even hurt).
Bonus question: Would anything change if Bob says to Chuck that he should stop it, but Chuck does it again?