Black children in England and Wales almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched than white peers – report

Demographic also overrepresented when police officers use force such as handcuffs, firearms or Tasers, says children’s commissioner Black children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, a report has disclosed. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said Black children are also overrepresented when officers use force and were more likely to have their “size, gender or build” cited as justification. The findings, which point to a worsening of racial disparities, come more than five years after the case of Child Q, the Black 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip-searched while menstruating by police officers. Last summer, a disciplinary panel found two officers had committed gross misconduct during the “disproportionate” and “humiliating” incident at a school in east London. The pair were dismissed from the Metropolitan Police without notice. Wednesday’s report found that the “deeply intrusive and potentially traumatic experience” is usually used because of the suspicion of drugs possession, but nearly half of all searches still result in no further action. The la