More than 60 children a week are being strip-searched by police in England and Wales, with those who are black, Asian or mixed race significantly more likely to be targeted, new figures reveal.
Data from 41 out of 43 police forces shows that 3,122 searches were carried out on under 18s in the year to March 2023. In total, 68,874 strip searches were carried out.
Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, described the figures as “deeply disturbing” and said they exposed a “stark racial disparity” in the strip-searching of children, with black and biracial children “significantly overrepresented”.
For children, a far higher proportion of those strip-searched self-defined as being black, Asian or mixed race compared with adults – 37% compared with 23%. Less than half of all children strip-searched had their ethnic background recorded as white (45%), compared with 60% of strip-searched adults.
“Strip-searching children is a drastic measure and can be hugely distressing and traumatic for young people. According to strict national guidelines, it should solely happen in exceptional circumstances and always with an adult present – yet too often we know this is not happening in practice,” Russell said.
The figures, revealed in the aftermath of the Child Q scandal, give the most complete national picture to date of the strip-searching of children by police. In the Child Q case, a 15-year-old black schoolgirl in 2020 was ordered to undress after being wrongly suspected of carrying drugs. The search was conducted after teachers called police, while the girl was on her period, without her parents being contacted and with no other adults present.