A woman who felt a man put his hand up her dress as she stood at the bar of a popular Melbourne nightspot while out with friends has called for ID scanners to be installed in pubs.
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Antonia, 28, had been at St Kilda's The Esplanade Hotel when she says a drunk man approached, prompting her boyfriend to tell him to back off and he stumbled away.
The man didn't take the hint, making a move while her back was turned.
"I was facing the bar and all of a sudden I felt a hand up my dress that grabbed me and I turned around and recognised it was the same person from before," she told reporters on Tuesday of the February 23 grope.
"I just got really angry. I started screaming at him just saying 'That is not okay. You can't just touch someone like that against their will. My body is my body'."
Antonia said other patrons froze and no one came to her aid before she ran to security personnel, who ejected the man.
"I just want to send a message that it is not OK for people to touch you, to take advantage of you and even if it is something that happens in bars quite frequently it shouldn't be happening so much," she said.
Antonia, who arrived in Melbourne from America last year, called for ID scanners to be mandatory at all bars to ensure a record of patron names and details.
Police have released images and CCTV footage of a Caucasian man, dressed in a white shirt and blue blazer, they want to speak to in regards to the assault.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Peita Measham said anyone with information, or who recognised the man, should contact police.
Australian Associated Press