Is it OK for a male family member to hug and kiss a 15 year old female

[Breeze2023]

I will start by saying its not my child and its a situation that makes me feel very uncomfortable.
Its a family member that I am unable to bring the subject up with, the male in question is the new husband to the child's mother, who has been in the picture for a couple of years.
The contact to me just feels too much arms around her waist to have a photo taken and in general far to over friendly and touchy.

Interested in other people's opinions on when/if a male should be putting hands on a child.

No it's not.

What does the girl think ?

If someone did it to my DD she'd absolutely tell them to fuck off.

On the face of it, yes a child’s stepfather (if I’ve read this right!) should be able to hug and kiss his stepchild as long as they are comfortable. Is there any indication that the child is uncomfortable or are you just drawing that conclusion yourself?

if the girl wants it, fine

From the description it sounds like the girls stepfather who she has known for a couple of years or more?

Of course an arm round the waist for a photo or a hug is ok.

However "over friendly" is very relative so a difficult one to respond to as your comfort levels are likely different to hers. Some people are naturally more huggy than others.

As long as she's able to move away if she wasn't comfortable it doesn't seem particularly out of place to me.

It’s whether the child is comfortable with it or not.
DHs family always encouraged kisses etc, especially with her partner “give uncle x a kiss”. I always found it very uncomfortable but when I expressed it to DH he was furious with me and my dirty mind 🙄.
Unfortunately I was right and it caused a huge family rift when the poor child who had been made to kiss Uncle nonce was sexually assaulted by him.
My DD is only touched with her permission, even by me and it’s been like that since she was very young.
MIL keeps suggesting she give Uncle Y (new partner) a kiss but DD handles it by shaking his hand. Mil has learned nothing but fortunately uncle Y has no wish to kiss or otherwise touch any of us.

So long as the child is happy, of course it’s fine for her to hug her stepfather? We’re not a very kissy family but others are and again that’s fine if they’re comfortable. Wouldn’t give two thoughts about an arm around the waist for a photo

It depends on what the touch is - are we talking a brief hug and peck on the cheek? Is the touch a two-way thing ie is it instigated by the 15 year old at any point? Does the 15 year old seem comfortable with it?

The fact u think it’s not right and that it’s a safeguarding concern u should be reporting it.