Growing up, refs never used to call handballs on you if you had your arms cross over or tucked in to protect your chest--despite it being theoretically cushioned, being smacked the wrong way in the chest can REALLY hurt. Of course, a true "chest trap" receives the ball on the upper half of the chest and you cushion it down, so that was usually reserved for if you got in the way of someone's kick and really didn't want the pain.
If the arms aren't tucked in flush or it's an obvious attempt to trap the ball by someone using inappropriate technique though, it was always called.
Whether that's the rule or how it was done, I have zero clue, but that's just my experience as a female player of many years.
