In the UK, 650 children, mostly black children aged 10 to 17, were subjected to strip searches in 2018-2020. The UK Children’s Commissioner stated that the strip search of a black girl in 2020 was not an exceptional case.
UK Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza requested police data after a strip search of a 15-year-old black girl at a Hackney school in 2020.
“I am not convinced that the UK Police Service is thinking about the welfare of children,” Souza said, adding that he was “deeply concerned” by the findings, according to BBC.
Souza stated that the strip search of a 15-year-old black girl in the Hackney neighborhood in 2020 was not an exceptional case.
According to the data shared by the Police Service, 650 children aged between 10 and 17 were strip-searched in 2018-2020.
It was shared that 95 percent of the children searched were male and 58 percent of them were black.
It was also revealed that 75 percent of the men who were strip-searched in 2018 were black.
Another 15-year-old girl was accused of drug possession and subjected to a strip search at a school in the eastern English borough of Hackney.
The police strip-search of a black girl identified as “Child Q” sparked protests.
UK declares “strip searches of children not exceptional”
1 min read
