Black Children Six Times More Likely to be Strip-Searched Than White Peers

London: An official report accuses police of abusing their power to strip-search children, with black children much more likely than white children to be selected by officers for the ordeal.

Data collected by the office of the children’s commissioner found there were at least 2,847 recorded strip-searches of children pre-arrest across England and Wales between 2018 and 2022 under stop and search powers. Black children make up 5.9% of the population, meaning they were six times over-represented. The youngest child strip-searched was eight, and about a quarter were 10-15, the report will say.

The children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, said she was shocked by the ethnic disproportionality, while the president of the National Black Police Association, Insp Andy George, said it was another example of institutional racism – which police leaders deny exists.

Read More: Vikram Dodd, https://rb.gy/1kxcqm