Police in England and Wales strip search a child every 19 hours, finds shocking report

A new report has revealed a disturbing trend in England and Wales. On Monday (August 19), Britain's Children Commissioner in a damning report revealed that police in England and Wales strip search a child every 19 hours. These strip search disproportionately target Black children, it found.

Why strip-search children?

The issue came into the spotlight in 2022 after the case of a 15-year-old, only identified as "Child Q," made headlines. Child Q, a Black girl, was strip-searched by London Police in 2020 while menstruating because teachers at her school believed she smelled of cannabis.

The strip search yielded no drugs. However, the incident sparked widespread outrage and raised questions about police conduct.

Following this, the nation's Children Commissioner, entrusted with protecting children, conducted an investigation. The investigation found that between July 2022 and June 2023, the British police conducted 457 strip searches on children — equivalent to one every 19 hours.

Most of these searches — permitted under strict conditions — were related to suspected drug offences. Yet, half of them resulted in no further action being taken.

Statutory Codes not followed

The investigation found that at least four per cent of the strip searches conducted between January 2018 and June 2023 were not compliant with statutory codes of practice. A further 11 per cent of them were flagged as cause for concern.

While the guidelines prescribe that such strip searches cannot be conducted in public view, at least 50 of the 457 strip searches between July 2022 and June 2023 were carried out in a public setting.

In a statement, Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza said, "A much higher threshold should be met before a child is subjected to a humiliating and traumatising search that exposes intimate parts."

As per the report, during the same period, black children were four times more likely to be subjected to such searches.

While the report does not analyse the reason for this, it cites previously published broader inquiries to highlight "substantial ethnic disparities" in the criminal justice system.

As disturbing as the figure is, the disproportionate targeting of black children is actually down from the six times over the previous four years. Moreover, the number of children subjected to strip searches has shown a slight decline. Previous data showed that between 2018 and 2023, such searches were carried out at roughly one every 14 hours. De Souza notes that there were signs police were recording details more accurately.

(With inputs from agencies)