Despite all the conversation and outraging about sexual violence against women, it somehow continues to worm its way into "harmless" comedy.

The latest such instance is a shocking episode from an Italian show where a female pop star, Emma Marrone, was groped by one of the dancers onstage as a "prank" instigated by the producers.

In the video, the man can be seen kissing her buttocks and touching her breasts and crotch even as she attempts to push him away and verbally objects to what he's doing. What makes it worse is that everyone watching this appalling display laughs at what's happening - men and women.

According to the Independent, the show was aired on Monday night and sparked off anger about its insensitivity. Women's rights activists have pointed out that a country like Italy, which has high rates of violence against women, cannot afford to have the media "contributing to a dangerous culture".

Closer home, a "prank" which had two men from Gurugram kissing supposedly random women went viral. The men claimed that the women were known to them but even if that were true, how does it explain why their shock (whether real or manufactured) should be funny at all?

Following the Marrone episode, a petition to introduce new guidelines for the media on dealing with sexual violence has been put together and has already garnered 10,000 signatures, the Independent reports.

When terms like 'consent' are still not understood and we live in a world where men are constantly given a long rope when they interpret a woman's 'no' to be a 'yes', we're better off without such ridiculous and offensive pranks.

Harassment is not sexy or funny but to see this, we first need to recognise that these visuals are violent - don't let the music or the laughter make you believe that it is anything else.