The C5N journalist Agustina Penalva He decided to make public a nightmare that he has been carrying for months: during a live broadcast he reported that he is being harassed by a man identified as Walter Grazianowho—according to her testimony—harasses her through messages, calls and constant presence in places she frequents. “I just want to get back to my life,” she said through tears.
Peñalva filed several formal complaints before police station 14 and before Prosecutor’s Office 18 of the City of Buenos Aires, under the heading of “harassment.” The Justice granted him protection measures: antipanic button, permanent police custody and prohibition of approach and contact for Graziano. However, the journalist reported that, despite these measures, the aggressor continued trying to violate her privacy.
As part of her story, Peñalva said that the harassment began via social networks with dozens of daily messages, then escalated to physical appearances: he would have joined her gym, intervened in restaurants where she had been and followed her routines. “He knows where I live, he knows my schedule, he follows me down the street,” he said. She blocked his accounts, but he created new ones to continue contacting her. In her defense, the journalist maintained that Graziano already had a history of harassment: he had been admitted to a psychiatric institution and detained for harassing another colleague.
Graziano’s version
Faced with the media repercussion, Graziano broke his silence through social networks, denying the accusations. In his defense he wrote: “This girl doesn’t know what to do to get money”. At the same time, he admitted that he approached C5N to “give him some chocolates and a book”denying the intent to harass.
According to media that report her version, Graziano appeared with a lawyer at Prosecutor’s Office 18 after the complaint, where the prohibition of approach and the impossibility of contacting her by any means were formally dictated.
For Peñalva, the media exposure of his case does not imply control over the aggressor or guarantee that judicial measures will be carried out. “I’m afraid of you, I don’t want flowers, books, or chocolates. I just want to live in peace,” he told her directly in front of the camera.
The journalist received a wave of support from colleagues and public figures who demanded a real review of the protection mechanisms for victims of persistent harassment. Many highlighted that, if an aggressor violates judicial measures without immediate consequences, the protection is only symbolic.
A repeated case
The case highlights multiple challenges: the effective implementation of court orders, the supervision of compliance by security forces, the speed of institutional response and the need for policies that accompany those who report.
While the case advances with digital evidence (messages, call records) and testimonies, Graziano’s opposing version adds tension: he denies the harassment, says that his approach was an innocent gift and considers that Peñalva seeks to benefit from the media.
The contrast between Peñalva’s story—a woman who says she feels besieged and afraid by her attacker—and Graziano’s response—a denial and alternative explanation—underlines the difficulty that many victims face: proving before the courts that persistent harassment, although not physically violent, constitutes a crime that deserves concrete protection.
This episode is not only an individual complaint: it revives a debate about how the Argentine legal system protects (or does not) those who suffer harassment, especially when the harasser is insistent, defies court orders and acts persistently. Peñalva is now on that ground, demanding that his story not be an isolated act, but rather a call to strengthen real responses to harassment.
