Black children across England and Wales four times more likely to be strip searched

THE Children’s Commissioner has called for a “much higher threshold” before police can strip-search minors as black children remain four times more likely to undergo the “humiliating and traumatising” procedure.

There were 3,368 strip searches of children carried out by 44 police forces, including British Transport Police, between January 2018 and June 2023, according to police data provided to Dame Rachel de Souza.

In a report published today, she said that the number of strip searches under stop and search of children in England and Wales in 2022 was 42 per cent lower than in 2020.

But the disproportionate number carried out on black children “remains a critical concern,” with the data showing they were four times more likely to be searched compared with national population figures between July 2022 and June 2023.

Half of the 457 searches carried out on children over the period also led to no further action, which calls into question “the necessity of such an intrusive search in the first place,” she said.

“A much higher threshold should be met before a child is subjected to a humiliating and traumatising intimate search … too many strip searches carried out are unnecessary, unsafe and under-reported.”

She said that the high-profile case of Child Q, a 15-year-old schoolgirl strip-searched in 2020 having been wrongly accused of possessing cannabis, was “shocking” and should never happen again.

The girl, who is black, had been on her period with no appropriate adult present at a school in Hackney, east London.

Scotland Yard apologised after the case sparked outrage when it emerged in 2022.

Three Metropolitan Police officers facing allegations of gross misconduct over the search are yet to have a hearing date confirmed.

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts chairwoman Zita Holbourne said: “Such strip searches have lasting impacts of trauma, the case of Child Q was horrific and a breach of human rights.

“The fact that black children are still disproportionately searched is because of institutional racism in policing, which despite the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and McPherson Report recommendations has never been addressed, seeking to both dehumanise and criminalise young black people.

“Our children need protecting and there must be robust preventative measures put in place to avoid the devastating impacts of strip searches on children, as well as strong penalties for police who abuse their power as a warning to police forces and officers.”